C-NRLF 


« 


OOODQOl 


0000000  0000001 


OOOOOOOOCOOOOOOOOOdlOQQQOOt 


HISTORICAL  RECOLLECTIONS 


OP 


S,  PAUL'S  CHAPEL,  NET  YORK. 

BY  THE 

BEY.   MORGAN   DIX,    S.  T.  D., 

EECTOK  OF  TRINITY  CIIUKCH. 

TO  WHICH   IS   PKEFIXED 

AN   ACCOUNT    OF   THE   THREE   DAYS*    SERVICES   HELD   IN   THAT 

CHAPEL    ON    OCCASION    OF   THE    CELEBRATION    OF    ITS 

CENTENNIAL   ANNIVERSARY, 

Oct.  28th,  29th,  and  30th,  1866. 
PRINTED  BY  ORDER  OF  THE  VESTRY  OF  TRINITY  CHURCH. 


NEW  YORK: 

F.    J.    HUNTINGTON    AND    COMPANY, 

459   BROOME   STREET. 

1867. 


v_; 


To  avoid  the  inconveniences  incident  to  gratuitous  distribution, 
this  pamphlet  will.be  sold,  and  the  entire  proceeds  of  the  sale 
will  be  given  in  aid  of  the  charitable  work  done  at  Saint 
Barnabas'  House,  304  and  300  Mulberry  Street,  under  the 
direction  of  the  CITY  MISSION  SOCIETY. 


M206224 


INTRODUCTORY   NARRATIVE. 


IT  was  on  the  30th  day  of  October,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord 
1766,  that  the  Chapel  of  Saint  Paul,  in  the  parish  of  Trinity 
Church,  in  the  City  of  New  York,  was  first  opened  for  the 
worship  of  Almighty  GOD.  Upon  the  approach  of  the  hun 
dredth  anniversary  of  that  day,  the  subject  was  formally 
brought  before  the  Vestry  of  Trinity  Church  by  the  B-ector 
of  the  parish ;  and  at  his  request  a  special  committee  was 
appointed  to  act  with  him  in  making  arrangements  for  the 
.due  observance  of  the  occasion.  This  committee  consisted 
of  five,  as  follows:  Messrs.  Wm.  E.  Dunscomb,  Henry 
Youngs,  Samuel  Davis,  Benjamin  E,  Winthrop,  and  John 
Travers.  Frequent  meetings  were  held,  before  and  after  the 
Centennial,  as  circumstances  required  5  and  the  Hector  avails 
himself  of  this  opportunity  to  offer  to  those  gentlemen  his 
thanks  for  their  services,  and  for  their  cordial  co-operation 
in  the  plans  and  suggestions  which  were,  from  time  to  time, 
presented  by  him  for  their  consideration. 

It  was  decided,  after  due  reflection,  to  observe  the  Centen 
nial  by  a  series  of  services,  to  continue  during  three  days; 
and,  since  the  30th  of  October  fell  on  a  Tuesday,  it  was  fur 
ther  decided  to  commence  the  commemoration  on  the  pre 
ceding  Sunday.  It  was  also  thought  best  that,  on  each  of 
the  three  days,  there  should  be  a  solemn  celebration  of  the 


6,    ^ 


Holy  Eucharist,'  since  that  lias  always  been  regarded  as  tlie 
highest  act  of  Christian  worship,  the  distinctive  expression  of 
praise  and  thanksgiving,  and  the  spiritual  sacrifice  of  the 
children  of  GOD.  Several  of  the  Clergy  of  the  parish  were 
invited  to  prepare  discourses  on  topics  in  harmony  with  the 
occasion ;  and,  in  view  of  the  antiquity  of  the  building,  and 
the  many  events  of  historical  importance  which  have  trans 
pired  within  or  near  it,  the  Rector  undertook  to  prepare  a 
narrative-lecture,  in  which  there  should  be  recorded  such 
facts  and  well-authenticated  traditions  concerning  S.  Paul's 
as  deserve  to  be  held  in  remembrance.  Moreover,  since  the 
attention  of  our  own  branch  of  the  Church  is  now  drawn  to 
the  subject  of  the  Choral  Service,  and  since  a  growing  love 
of  that  ancient  and  delightful  mode  of  worship  is  happily 
perceptible  among  us,  it  was  thought  advisable  that,  of  the 
many  services  of  the  three  days,  some  should  be  performed 
with  the  aid  of  a  competent  choir  of  men  and  boys,  in  hope 
of  presenting,  at  that  memorable  time,  a  more  than  ordi 
narily  impressive  tribute  of  gratitude  for  past  mercies, 
through  the  instrumentality  of  the  Choral  Song.  Such  were 
the  general  outlines  of  the  plan.  The  statement  of  details 
will  be  made  in  the  order  of  the  successive  days  of  this 
observance. 

SUBTDAY,  OCTOBER  28rm. 
Feast  of  8,  Simon  and  8.  Jude,  and  2%d  Sunday  after  Trinity. 

The  beauty  of  the  American  autumnal  days,  so  widely 
lauded  and  so  intensely  enjoyed,  could  not  have  had  a  more 
favorable  illustration  than  on  this  first  day  of  the  week.  A 
large  congregation  assembled  at  the  usual  hour  of  morning 
service  in  the  venerable  building.  And  here  it  seems  proper 
to  mention  the  decorations  which  had  been  made,  as  free-will 
offerings,  by  some  devout  persons  who  valued  the  privilege 
of  giving  in  this  way  to  the  house  of  the  LORD  and  the  shrine 
of  His  Presence.  These  decorations,  though  few  and  simple, 
were  rich  and  costly ;  and  confined  almost  exclusively  to  the 
chancel  and  altar.  The  reading-desk  and  pulpit  were  fur 
nished  with  frontals  of  white  merino,  beautifully  embroidered 


in  silk  by  a  lady  of  the  congregation,  and  similar  hangings 
covered  the  book-boards  of  the  sedilia  within  the  sacrarium. 
In  and  about  the  chancel  stood  cedars  and  arbor- vitas  trees, 
of  great  size  and  beauty ;  these  had  been  brought  from  the 
country-seat  of  a  family  of  the  congregation,  and  were  select 
ed  with  great  care  for  that  sacred  office  of  making  beautiful 
the  place  of  the  sanctuary.  The  altar  was  vested  in  an 
entirely  new  and  lovely  garb ;  the  frontal  and  super-frontal 
were  of  the  richest  white  moire,  exceeding  costly ;  the  frontal 
being  relieved  by  vertical  orphreys  or  bands  of  red  and  gold 
silk,  embroidered  with  the  sacred  monogram,  and  enriched 
with  gold-colored  silk  fringe.  These  vestings  of  the  Holy 
Table  were  not  returned  around  the  ends;  but  the  "fair, 
white  linen  cloth,"  perfectly  plain,  without  embroidery,  cov 
ered  the  top  of  the  altar,  and  fell  over  either  end  to  the  foot 
pace.  The  altar-ledge  bore,  as  usual,  the  cross  and  vases :  it 
was  one  bed  of  living  flowers,  which  were  connected  by 
long  trailing  branches  of  ivy,  with  more  flowers  in  the  ledges 
and  window-sills  above  ;  while  pots  of  flowers  and  flowering 
shrubs  were  set  on  the  footpace  at  the  north  and  south  ends 
of  the  Lord's  Table.  The  vestments  of  the  altar  were  the 
gift  of  one  member  of  the  congregation,  who,  rich  in  faith 
and  good  deeds,  and  hitherto  an  efficient  helper  of  the  Clergy 
in  their  work  among  the  poor,  made  this  noble  offering  to 
the  Lord  from  the  savings  of  her  laborious  trade,  patient 
ly  laid  by  for  a  long  time  past,  with  a  view  to  this  final 
disposition.  The  font  was  filled  with  choice  and  fragrant 
flowers ;  and  in  the  chancel,  at  either  end  of  the  altar, 
stood  candelabra  with  wax  candles.  The  flowers  were 
renewed,  from  time  to  time,  during  the  continuance  of  the 
festival. 

The  hour  of  Divine  Service,  10J  o'clock  A.  M.,  having 
arrived,  the  officiating  Clergy,  the  Rev.  Rector,  the  Rev. 
Benj.  I.  Haight,  D.  D.,  and  the  Rev.  Frederick  B.  Van 
Kleeck,  A.  M.,  entered  the  church,  and  proceeded  with  the 
Morning  Prayer,  Litany,  and  Ante-Communion  Service,  as 
usual.  Instead  of  the  Psalter  for  the  day,  Proper  Psalms 
were  chanted,  being  the  10th,  the  19th,  and  the  53d.  The 
Nicene  Creed  was  sung  to  the  8th  Gregorian  tone.  After 


8 

the  Gospel,  an  Anthem  by  Stevenson  was  sung ;  the  words 
being  taken  from  Ps.  viii.,  "  O  Lord,  our  Governor." 

The  sermon  at  this  opening  service  was  preached  by  the 
Rev.  Dr.  Haight.  His  text  was  Ps.  cv.  1-6.  In  this  dis 
course,  which  appropriately  introduced  the  series,  after  due 
commemoration  of  the  mercies  of  the  past  century,  the 
preacher  gave  many  interesting  recollections  of  persons  who 
have  in  former  years  worshipped  in  S.  Paul's,  referring  to 
clergymen,  vestrymen,  and  others,  now  departed  from  us. 
The  discourse  was  of  the  nature  of  a  brief  memorial  of  the 
faithful,  who  have  gone  hence  with  the  sign  of  faith,  and 
now  do  rest  in  the  sleep  of  peace.  The  closing  remarks  of 
the  Rev.  preacher  were  singularly  beautiful,  touching,  and 
affecting ;  they  prepared  the  mind  for  the  service  which  was 
to  follow,  in  which  all  the  true  children  of  GOD,  however 
widely  separated,  and  whether  in  the  body  or  out  of  the 
body,  do  yet  make  but  one  Communion  in  Christ. 

The  sermon  being  concluded,  there  followed  the  adminis 
tration  of  the  Lord's  Supper,  the  Rector  acting  as  Celebrant. 
About  200  persons  received  the  Blessed  Sacrament ;  and 
thus  the  first  service  was  happily  and  devoutly  brought  to  an 
end. 

At  3J  p.  M.,  an  informal  meeting  of  the  children  of  the 
Sunday  Schools  and  Daily  Parochial  School  of  S.  Paul's 
Chapel  was  held  in  the  church.  On  this  occasion  many  per 
sons  were  present  who  had  been,  in  past  years,  connected 
with  these  schools,  as  superintendents,  teachers,  or  catechu 
mens.  The  exercises  consisted  of  a  short  service,  the  singing 
of  hymns,  and  the  delivery  of  brief  addresses.  The  hymns 
were  all  taken  from  "  Hymns  Ancient  and  Modern ;"  those 
selected  were,  " Blessed  city,  heavenly  Salem"  "  We  love  the 
place,  O  GOD,"  "  Jerusalem,  the  golden"  and  " Now  thank 
we  all  OUT  GOD."  The  Rev.  Dr.  Haight  gave  many  interest 
ing  personal  reminiscences  concerning  the  rise  and  growth 
of  the  Sunday  School  system  in  this  city,  and  the  history  of 
S.  Paul's  School  in  particular.  He  was  followed  by  the  Rev. 
Samuel  II.  Hilliard,  of  S.  Barnabas'  House,  and  the  Rev. 
Stephen  II.  Battin,  formerly  a  scholar  of  this  school.  Lastly, 
the  Rector  distributed  to  the  children  an  illuminated  Memo- 


9 

rial  Card,  designed  for  this  purpose,  and  printed  in  many 
colors,  by  Mr.  J.  M.  Kronheim.  Each  member  of  the  schools 
received  a  card. 

At  7-J-  o'clock  P.  M.,  a  very  large  congregation  was  present, 
filling  the  church.  Evening  prayer  was  commenced  by  the 
Eev.  Dr.  Haight. 

The  sermon  was  preached  by  the  Rev.  Francis  Vinton,  D.  D. 
The  text  was  taken  from  S.  Mark  iv.  30,  31,  32,  being  the 
Parable  of  the  Mustard-seed,  and  the  subject  was,  "The 
Church  in  Two  Centuries"  The  following  abstract  of  this 
very  able,  interesting,  and  important  discourse  has  been  fur 
nished  from  a  reliable  source,  and  is  printed  in  the  shape  in. 
which  it  was  received : — 


The  history  of  the  Catholic  Church,  as  foretold  by  our  Lord  in  the 
Parable  of  the  Mustard-seed,  is  verified  also  in  the  annals  of  the  Protest 
ant  Episcopal  Church,  as  a  branch  of  the  Catholic  Church  in  this  coun 
try,  and  especially  in  the  biography  of  Trinity  Church,  in  New  York. 

1st.  The  planting  of  the  Church  was,  like  the  sowing  of  the  mustard-. 
seed — the  least  of  all  seeds- — without  observation,  in  the  chaplaincy  of 
military  forces,  in  A.  D.  1664. 

2d.  The  rooting  of  the  seed  was  a  period  of  persecution  and  tolera 
tion  of  the  Churchv  The  phase  of  persecution  extending  to  A.  D,  1713  ; 
and  passing  thenceforward  into  the  phase  of  mere  toleration,  until  A.  D. 
1786. 

3d.  The  growing  up  of  the  seed  was  evinced  in  the  organization  of  the 
Church,  through  the  consecration  of  the  bishops,  and  organization  of 
the  General  Convention,  and  the  publication  of  the  Common  Prayer 
Book.  This  period  may  be  characterized  as  the  apology  or  defence. 
First,  the  defence  of  liturgical  worship,  as  against  the  custom  of  extem 
pore  prayers ;  and  second,  the  defence  of  the  Apostolic  Succession, 
against  the  claims  of  schismatic  and  unauthorized  ministrations  of  the 
Gospel. 

4th.  The  becoming  great  of  the  seed  was  when  the  Church  proclaimed 
to  her  children  their  missionary  obligations  to  our  country  and  to  the 
world,  and  her  subsequent  expansion  into  fresh  dioceses. 

5th.  The  shooting  out  of  great  branches  from  the  seed  was  indicated 
by  the  consecration  of  foreign  and  domestic  missionary  bishops  and  by 
the  Oxford  tract  movements,  whence  the  souls  and  bodies  of  men  were 
cared  for,  in  preaching  the  Gospel  and  in  works  of  charity.  These 
characteristic  times  reach  to  this  our  day,  in  A.  D.  1866. 

6th.  The  giving  shelter  to  all,  that  illustrated  the  full  and  perfect 
maturity  of  the  mustard-seed,  is  marked  in  the  history  of  the  Church  by 


10 

her  provisions  for  ministering  to  the  whole  nature  of  mankind,  by  apply 
ing  Christian  art  in  subservience  to  piety,  and  subsidizing  the  beautiful 
to  adorn  religion. 

This  may  be  named  as  the  aesthetic  eray  when  architecture  and  music 
and  the  ritual  claim  particular  prominence.  In  this-  complete  aspect  of 
the  Church  we  discover  the  operation  of  all  the  spiritual  forces  of  the 
former  periods,  just  as,  in  the  mustard-tree,  the  life  of  the  seed  pervaded 
all  stages  of  its  growth  onto  perfection. 

This  is  the  glorious  era  on  which  the  Church  has  just  entered,  and 
which  future  annalists  may  note  as  contemporary  with  this  celebration 
of  the  Centennial  of  St.  Paul's  Chapel. 


MONDAY,  OCTOBER  29l^H. 

At  94  o'clock  A.  M.,  there  was  a  celebration  of  tlie  Holy 
Eucharist.  The  office  was  commenced  by  chanting  Psalm 
132,  Memento  r  Domine,  as  the  Introit,  after  which  the  Com 
munion  Service  was  said,  as  far  as  to  the  Prayer  of  Consecra 
tion,  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Haight,  the  Epistle  being  read  by  the 
Eev.  George  T.  Rider,  A.  M.,  of  Poughkeepsie.  The  Nicene 
Creed  was  sung,  after  the  Gospel,  to  the  8th  Gregorian ;  the 
versicles?  responses,  and  Amens  throughout  the  service  were 
also  sung.  The  Rector  celebrated ;  and  a  considerable  num 
ber  of  the  faithful  communed,  including  a  number  of  clergy. 

After  the  conclusion  of  the  celebration,  the  church  remaining 
open,  many  stayed,  enjoying  the  tranquil  scene ;  and  these 
were  joined  by  others,  until,  as  the  hour  of  noon  approached, 
a  large  assemblage  was  present  again.  There  now  appeared, 
in  addition  to  the  members  of  the  congregation,  many  per 
sons  who  had  in  former  years  worshipped  in  S.  Paul's,  or 
who  had  received  there  some  rites  of  the  Church ;  and  among 
these  were  some  who  had  travelled  long  distances  in  order  to 
be  present.  So  remarkable  an  assemblage  of  the  old  citizens 
of  New  York,  and  persons  interested  in  her  history,  has 
never  before,  perhaps,  been  seen  within  those  walls.  The 
reverend,  the  wise,  and  the  venerable  were  there — the  men 
of  past  years  with  those  of  the  present.  The  accommodations 
within  the  chancel  and  in  the  church  being  limited,  it  had 
not  been  deemed  expedient  to  give  special  invitations  to  the 
Centennial  Services,  except  in  a  few  particular  cases ;  but  a 


11 

general  invitation,  addressed  to  all  persons  "  traditionally 
connected  with  S.  Paul's,"  to  revisit  the  church  at  such 
times  as  might  be  most  convenient,  during  the  three  days' 
term,  was  cordially  accepted,  to  judge  from  the  number  who 
came  together  to  listen  to  the  promised  sketch  of  its  history. 
The  Rev.  Samuel  R.  Johnson,  D.  D.,  and  the  Rev.  John 
Brown,  D.  D.,  now  for  more  than  fifty  years  Rector  of  S. 
George's  Church,  Newburgh,  were  among  the  eminent  per 
sons  present. 

At  12  o'clock,  the  hour  appointed  for  the  delivery  of  the 
historical  lecture,  the  Rector  ascended  the  pulpit.  The  103d 
hymn,  "From  all  that  dwell  below  the  skies"  &e.,  was  sung 
to  that  grand  old  tune  "Duke  St"  The  Lord's  Prayer,  and 
the  collect,  "  Direct  us,  O  Lord,"  were  then  said  by  the  Rev. 
Dr.  Haight ;  after  which  the  Lecture  upon  the  History  and 
Antiquities  of  S.  Paul's  was  read.  The  time  did  not  permit 
the  reading  of  the  whole  of  what  had  been  prepared :  it  will 
be  found  herein,  however,  printed  in  full,  with  the  addition 
of  notes  and  memoranda  of  great  interest.  When  it  was 
finished,  the  whole  congregation  united  in  singing  the  Gloria 
in  Excelsis,  after  which  they  reverently  received  the  Blessing 
of  Peace.  But  long  did  they  linger,  broken  into  groups  and 
dispersed  throughout  the  church,  exchanging  salutations, 
conversing  together  about  bygone  times,  and  giving  and 
receiving  such  pleasant  and  curious  items  of  information  as 
were  suggested  by  a  comparison  of  recollections,  until,  at 
length,  this  charming  interchange  of  friendly  sayings  and 
not  unprofitable  observations  came  to  an  end,  and  the  people 
reluctantly  withdrew. 

At  7-J  o'clock  in  the  evening,  the  Choral  Service  was  sung 
for  the  first  time  in  S.  Paul's  Chapel.  The  crowd  assembled 
on  the  occasion  was  very  great,  the  whole  building  being  filled. 
The  choir  was  a  very  large  one,  numbering  about  60  men 
and  boys,  of  whom  the  greater  part  were  choristers  of  Trinity 
Church  and  Trinity  Chapel,  the  whole  being  under  the  direc 
tion  of  Dr.  William  II.  Walter,  to  whose  industrious  and 
laborious  efforts  the  marked  success  of  the  two  choral  ser 
vices  was  due.  The  staircase  at  the  northwest  corner  of  the 
church  had  been  previously  arranged  as  a  temporary  robing- 


12 

room ;  and,  when  the  hour  of  service  arrived,  the  procession 
entered  the  chapel  by  the  west  door,  in  the  following  order : 
1st,  the  junior  choristers,  some  4:0  in  number,  vested  in  sur 
plices  ;  2dly,  the  senior  choristers,  similarly  vested ;  3dly,  a 
select  choir  of  Priests,  in  surplice  and  stole,  consisting  of  the 
Kev.  J.  I.  Tucker,  D.  D.,  of  Troy,  the  Rev.  J.  S.  B.  Hodges, 
of  Newark,  K  J.,  the  Eev.  E.  M.  Pecke,  of  Riverdale,  the 
Rev.  H.  A.  Neely,  D.  D.,  of  Trinity  Chapel,  the  Rev.  W.  II. 
Cooke,  of  Lansingburgh,  "N.  Y.,  the  Rev.  O.  B.  Keith,  of 
Jenkintown,  Pa.,  the  Rev.  "W.  G.  Farrington,  of  Hacken- 
sack,  !N".  J.,  and  the  Rev.  George  T.  Rider,  of  Poughkeepsie ; 
4thly,  the  officiating  clergy.  The  service  was  commenced  by 
the  Rev.  the  Rector  of  the  parish ;  the  Creed  and  Prayers 
were  said  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Young.  The  following  printed 
memorandum  of  the  order  of  services  contains  the  particu 
lars  : — 


1766-1866. 

ST.   PAUL'S    CHAPEL, 

(NEW  YORK.) 
CENTENNIAL    CELEBRATION 

Monday  Evening,  Oct.  29,   1866. 


FULL  CHORAL  SERVICE. 


VOLUNTARY. 

PROPER  PSALMS,  68,  87.       .          (Trinity  Psalter,  pp.  125,  166.) 

FIRST   LESSON. 

Isaiah,  45,  11-25. 
BONUM  EST.   .         .         .          (Chant  on  p.  166,  Trinity  Psalter.) 

SECOND  LESSON. 

Ephesians,  4. 
BENEDIC,  ANIMA  MEA;         .         .         (Same  Chant.) 

HYMN   152.  .         .         .  "The  God  of  Abraham  praise." 

(No.  253,  "Walter's  Manual.") 

SERMON. 

ANTHEM— Ps.  cxxxii.,  8,  9,  10.  .         .        (W.  H.  Walter,  1853.) 

"  Arise,  O  Lord." 


14 

The  Sermon  was  preached  by  the  Kev.  S.  H.  Weston,  D.  D., 
from  Psalm  cxi.  4 — "  The  merciful  and  gracious  Lord  hath 
so  done  His  marvellous  works  that  they  ought  to  be  had  in 
remembrance."  The  Rev.  preacher  addressed  the  congre 
gation  upon  the  subject  of  the  Past  and  Present  of  S.  Paul's 
Chapel.  He  regretted  the  want  of  statistics,  by  which  he 
might  have  been  able  to  give  the  whole  result  of  what  had 
been  done  during  the  hundred  years  through  which  the 
church  had  been  open  for  divine  service ;  the  numbers  of  the 
baptized,  the  confirmed,  the  married,  the  buried,  thus  far ; 
the  bishops  consecrated  here,  the  priests  and  deacons  ordained. 
Had  these  walls  a  tongue,  what  sermons  would  they  preach, 
of  the  vanity  of  earth,  the  brevity  and  uncertainty  of  life, 
the  unwritten  history  of  so  many  individual  souls!  The 
preacher  then  went  on  to  speak  of  the  changes  which  have 
taken  place  in  the  lower  part  of  tl^e  city,  and  gave  some  sta 
tistics  of  the  churches  and  houses  of  worship  which  have 
been  removed ;  in  consequence  of  which  removals  not  fewer 
than  120,000  souls  are  left  destitute  of  the  means  of  grace. 
He  proposed  to  remedy  the  deficiency  of  church  accommoda 
tion  by  holding  more  services  in  those  buildings  which  still 
remain,  thus  making  one  church  do  the  work  of  many,  and 
also  by  constructing  new  ones  of  greater  capacity,  suggesting 
that  we  should  put  in  more  galleries,  and  borrow  an  idea 
from  the  places  of  amusement,  public  halls,  &c.,  in  which, 
as  is  well  known,  thousands  hear  better  than  hundreds  can 
in  some  of  the  modern  churches.  It  was  also  recommended 
that  divine  worship  should  be  invested  with  all  the  attrac 
tiveness  consistent  with  solemnity,  decorum,  and  the  reve 
rence  due  to  Almighty  GOD  ;  then,  and  not  till  then,  may 
we  hope  to  reach  the  masses  of  the  neglected  poor  now 
perishing  in  our  midst,  under  the  shadows  of  our  spires, 
and  within  the  sound  of  our  bells.  "  Brethren,  let  us  do 
our  part,"  said  the  preacher,  in  conclusion,  "  to  hasten  this 
consummation  so  devoutly  to  be  wished ;  let  us  do  our  part 
to  make  the  history  of  the  next  hundred  years  of  this  sacred 
temple  as  illustrious  as  the  past.  Time  will  at  last  crumble 
even  these  massive  walls ;  but  if,  while  they  stand,  they  are 
a  home  for  Christ's  poor,  the  glory  of  the  latter  house  shall 


15 

be  greater  than  the  glory  of  the  former,  saith  the  Holy 
Ghost." 

Mention  should  be  made  of  the  anthem,  "  Arise,  O  Lord," 
the  chorus  parts  of  which  were  admirably  given,  while  the 
solos  and  duets  were  sung  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Neely  and  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Hodges.  The  duet  by  those  priests,  on  the  words, 
"  Let  thy  priests  ~be  clothed  with  righteousiiess"  was  most 
devotionally  and  feelingly  rendered. 

The  Blessing  of  Peace,  .  followed  by  the  full  "  Amen," 
closed  this  beautiful  service;  a  "Sacrifice,"  indeed,  to  the 
praise  and  glory  -of  the  Triune  GOD,  offered  with  intense 
earnestness  by  thankful  hearts,  and  fitly  ushering  in  the  com 
memoration  of  the  morrow. 

TUESDAY,  OCTOBER  30TH.     THE  CENTENNIAL  DAY. 

A  furious  rain-storm  from  the  southeast  prevailed  during 
the  night  of  the  29th ;  but  by  9  o'clock  on  the  morning  of 
the  30th  all  was  clear,  bright,  and  beautiful. 

The  first  service  held  on  this  day  was  at  11  o'clock.  Pre 
vious  to  that  hour  the  altar  had  been  dressed  anew,  with 
fresh  flowers ;  and  just  before  the  commencement  of  the  ser 
vice  there  was  received,  by  the  Rector,  a  very  beautiful  cross 
of  flowers,  with  the  following  note : — 

"  Will  the  Reetor  <*f  Trinity  Church  permit  this  memorial  cross,  from 
the  great -great-grandchildren  of  Rev.  Dr.  Auchmuty,  Mary  Auchmuty 
and  Allan  Tucker,  to  be  placed  on  the  altar  of  S.  PauPs  ChapeL 

"  The  Centennial,  October  30, 1866." 

The  service  was  commenced  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Haight.  The 
Psalms  were  chanted,  being  those  appointed  to  be  used  at 
the  consecration  of  a  church  or  chapel — the  84:th,  the  122d, 
and  the  132d.  The  Lessons  also  were  taken  from  the  Con 
secration  Service,  and  were  read  by  Dr.  Neely  and  Dr.  "Wes- 
ton.  The  Meene  Creed  was  chanted  to  the  8th  tone.  After 
Morning  Prayer,  the1  52d  hymn  was  sung;  and,  after  the 
Gospel,  an  anthem  from  the  oratorio  of  the  Creation,  "  The 
marvellous  works  behold  amazed,"  &c.  The  Rev.  Edward 
Y.  Higbee,  D.  D.,  Senior  Assistant  Minister  of  Trinity 


16 

Church,  then  ascended  the  pulpit,  and  read,  to  an  exceeding 
ly  attentive  and  interested  congregation,  the  sermon  preached 
by  the  Rev.  Samuel  Auchmuty,  JD.  D.,  in  that  pulpit,  and 
about  that  hour,  just  one  hundred  years  before.  Dr.  Higbee, 
before  reading  it,  made  some  brief  but  impressive  remarks, 
with  that  good  taste  and  peculiar  felicity  of  expression  which 
are  so  characteristic  of  him,  referring  to  the  admirable  quali 
ties  and  faithful  services  of  the  venerable  servant  of  GOD 
whose  words  were  about  to  be  recited  in  our  ears,  and  to  the 
presence  of  his  descendants  to  the  third  and  fourth  genera 
tion.  It  seems  proper  to  add  a  few  words  respecting  the 
sermon.  The  title-page  is  as  follows : — 


SERMON, 

Preached  at  the  Opening  of 

St.   P  A  u  L'S     CHAPEL, 

IN     THE 

City    of    NEW-YORK, 

On  the  Thirtieth  Day  of  Ottobcr,  A.  D.  1766. 


By   SAMUEL  A  U  C  H  M  U  T  Y,  D.  D. 

Redor  of  Trinity-Church ;  and  Chaplain  to  the  Right  Hon, 
William,  Earl  of  Stirling. 


Quifquis  adcs,   tu   mafic  nova  pietati,  parumper 
Exuc  mortales   Curas,  &  te  quoque  Dignum 
Fingc  Dto. 


Publifhed  at  the  Requeft  of  the  Church- Wardens  and  Veftry. 


N   E   W  -  Y   O  R   K  : 

Printed  and  Sold  by  H.  GAINE,  at  his  Book-Store,  and  Prmting-Officc, 
at  the  Bible  and  Crown,  in  Hanover-Square. 

[Price,  ONE  SHILLING.]       . 


18 

To  the  sermon  the  following  letter  is  prefixed  : — 

''  To  the  HONOURABLE  Joseph  Reade  and  Daniel  Horsmanden,  Esqrs, 
Church- Wardens;  And  the  other  Gentlemen  of  the  Vestry. 

'  Worthy  Sirs,  In  compliance  with  your  Request,  I  now  deliver  you  a 
Copy  of  my  Sermon  preached  at  the  Opening  of  ST.  PAUL'S  CHAPEL. 

IK  in  any  Shape  it  may  tend  to  promote  the  Glory  of  GOD,  the  Good 
of  Religion,  and  a  just  Idea  of  the  Sacredncss  of  BUILDINGS  dedicated  to 
the  immediate  Service  of  ALMIGHTY  GOD,  which  I  am  confident  can  be 
your  only  Inducement  for  desiring  this  Publication,  I  shall  be  most  amply 
re \varded.  But  it  will  afford  me  an  additional  Pleasure,  if  what  is  now 
offered  to  the  Public,  may  have  any  Influence  in  exciting  others  to  fol 
low  so  laudable  an  Example  of  Diligence,  Benevolence,  and  Disinterest 
edness,  as  you  have  exhibited  to  the  World,  in  the  Undertaking,  Con 
ducting,  arid  Completion  of  so  beautiful  and  magnificent  an  Edifice. 
THAT  it  may  answer  these  important  and  laudable  Ends,  is, 
GENTLEMEN, 

The  Sincere  Prayer  of, 

Your  Faithful  Pastor, 

And  Much  Obliged  Servant, 

S.  A. 

New  York,  Dec.  5, 
1766." 

The  sermon  is  printed  in  small  quarto  form,  19  pages. 
The  text  is  taken  from  Exodus,  chap,  iii.,  verse  5,  "And  he 
said,  Draw  not  nigh  hither.  Put  off  thy  shoes  from  off  .thy 
feet,  for  the  place  whereon  thou  standest  is  holy  ground." 
The  preacher,  in  arranging  the  heads  of  his  discourse,  under 
takes  to  show : — 

"  1st.  THAT  ALMIGHTY  GOD  is  eminently  present  in  one 
Place,  more  than  in  another ;  and  therefore,  that  sucli  Place, 
with  great  Propriety,  may  be  called  holy. 

"  2dly.  THAT  CHURCHES  dedicated  to  the  ALMIGHTY'S  Ser 
vice  may  be  justly  looked  upon  as  such  Places. 

"'  From  whence  will  appear — 

"  Sdly.  THE  Obligations  which  we  are  under,  while  in 
such  a  Situation,  and  in  the  more  immediate  Presence  of  so 
holy  a  GOD,  of  behaving  with  Respect,  Reverence,  and  De 
votion." 

The  sermon  is  a  fine  specimen  of  the  pulpit  oratory  of  the 
1 8th  century  ;,the  arguments  presented  are  drawn  from  Holy 


19 

Scripture,  the  Ancient  Fathers,  and  the  Divines  of  the  Church 
of  England;  the  style  is  clear,  elevated,  and  impressive.  The 
copy  from  which  it  was  read  bears  the  autograph  of  Aaron 
Van  Nostrant ;  it  was  presented  by  the  Rev.  Win.  L.  John 
son,  D.  D.,  of  Jamaica,  to  his  brother,  the  Rev.  Samuel  R. 
Johnson,  .D.  D.,  Professor  in  the  General  Theological  Semi 
nary,  to  whose  kindness  the  congregation  was  indebted  for 
the  pleasure  of  hearing  again  a  discourse  of  which  another 
copy  could  hardly  be  found. 

The  Holy  Communion  was  administered  to  a  large  congre 
gation,  including  some  30  or  40  clergymen,  and  about  300  of 
the  laity. 

The  concluding  service  of  the  Centennial  was  held  on 
Tuesday  evening,  commencing  at  7-J-  o'clock.  Like  that  of 
the  previous  evening,  it  was  choral,  the  music  being  under 
the  direction  of  Dr.  Walter.  The  printed  order  was  as  fol 
lows  : — 


1766-1866. 


ST.   PAUL'S    CHAPEL, 

(NEW  YORK.) 
CENTENNIAL    CELEBRATION 

Tuesday  Evening,  Oct.  30,  1866. 


FULL   CHORAL   SERVICE. 


VOLUNTARY. 

INTROIT— PSALM  xxiv.        .         .          (Trinity  Psalter,  p.  52.) 

PROPER  PSALMS,  46,  48.      .         .     (Trinity  Psalter,  pp.  93,  96.) 

FIRST   LESSON. 

Isaiah,  55. 

CANTATE  DOMINO.  .    ....          ("  Hodges  in  C.v) 

SECOND   LESSON. 

Revelation,   22. 

DEUS  MISEREATUR ("Hodges  in  C.") 

HYMN  222 "Hosanna  to  the  living  Lord." 

("Chorals  and  Hymns,"  p.  72.) 

SERMON. 

ANTHEM— Ps.  cxxii (Dr.  Hodges,  18^4.) 

"  I  was  glad." 

HYMN    276 "Jerusalem,  the  golden." 

("  Chorals  and  Hymns,"  p.  66.) 


21 

The  following  notice  of  this  closing  service  was  written  by 
a  person  present  on  the  occasion ;  and  is  inserted  here  as 
conveying  the  impressions  of  a  very  competent  judge,  and 
rendering  unnecessary  any  other  observations  on  the  points 
touched  on  by  the  writer : — 


"The  concluding  service  of  the  Centennial  Series  at  S.  Paul's  Chapel, 
on  Tuesday,  October  30th,  crowned  and  completed  the  solemn  climac 
teric  of  the  three  days  in  a  memorable  and  fitting  manner.  For  whether 
we  consider  the  numbers  in  attendance,  the  excellence  of  the  choral 
element,  or  the  enthusiasm  and  earnestness  of  worship,  nothing  was 
more  plainly  manifest  during  this  remarkable  three  days  of  public  ser 
vices  than  a  climacteric  spirit  of  zeal,  fervor,  and  devotion,  from  the 
first  to  the  last.  And  with  a  tender  recollection  embracing  all  of 
them,  we  do  not  hesitate  to  pronounce  the  final  service'  queen  of  all  the 
rest. 

"  From  an  early  hour  throngs  filled  the  sacred  building ;  indeed,  it  is 
almost  doubtful  whether,  at  any  time  during  this  privileged  season,  the 
church  was  at  any  time  during  the  day  or  evening  quite  deserted. 
Worshippers  found  themselves  strangely  stayed  to  the  sacred  precincts. 
On  this  occasion,  at  the  proper  time,  the  choirs  of  boys,  men,  and 
priests,  entered  the  church  chanting  antiphonaily  the  24th  Psalm  of  the 
Psalter,  passing  through  a  standing  and  crowded  congregation,  .and 
joining  in  the  Gloria  Patri  when  they  had  reached  their  stations  in  and 
about  the  chancel.  The  opening  part  of  the  service  as  far  as  the  Psalms 
was  devoutly  intoned  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Neely,  of  Trinity  Chapel.  The 
Psalms  (the  46th  and  48th)  followed  antiphonaily,  with  most  stirring 
spirit,  to  single  Anglican  chants.  The  first  Lesson  was  read  by  Dr. 
Weston,  and  the  second  by  Dr.  Higbee ;  while  the  Cantate  Domino  and 
Dens  Misereatur  were  sung  in  full  anthem  to  Dr.  Hodges'  familiar  ser 
vice  in  C.  The  Nicene  Creed  followed  in  unison  on  a  monotone,  closing 
with  triumphant  emphasis,  as  the  organ  harmonies  came  pealing  and 
pouring  in  about  the  final  sentences.  The  prayers  were  intoned  very 
effectively  by  Dr.  Haight,  the  Amens  and  responses  being  given  with 
splendid  precision  and  fervor  by  the  great  choir. 

"Dr.  Hodges'  anthem,  a  well-remembered  Consecration  sentence,  fol 
lowed,  in  which  the  baritone  solo  'I  was  glad  '  (originally  written  for 
him)  was  superbly  given  by  the  Rev.  J.  Sebastian  B.  Hodges.  The 
Prayer  of  the  three  Priests  in  the  same  anthem,  given  by  the  Rev. 
Messrs.  Cook,  J.  S.  B.  Hodges,  and  Dr.  Tucker,  all  of  the  Decani  choir, 
will  long  be  remembered  for  its  unexampled  beauty  of  rendering  and 
profoundly  religious  quality.  Such  vocal  conjunctions,  unfortunately, 
are  almost  as  rare  as  the  Pauline  Centennials  themselves.  Then,  after 
a  few  collects  by  the  Rector  of  the  parish,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Dix,  came  the 


22 

ever-welcome  Jerusalem,  the,  golden,  sung  rapturously,  and  seemingly 
by  every  one,  to  its  own  glorious  chorale,  when,  after  the  Blessing,  the 
choir  and  clergy  returned  in  procession  to  the  vestry-room,  the  congre 
gation  remaining  in  their  places.1' 


It  is  not  necessary  to  speak  particularly  of  the  sermon,  as 
it  was  published  in  full  in  several  of  the  city  newspapers 
on  the  following  morning.  It  contained  a  statement  of  the 
financial  history  and  actual  condition  of  the  Corporation  of 
Trinity  Church ;  corrected  some  of  those  mis-statements 
which  have  been,  and  still  are,  rife  respecting  the  value  of 
the  property  of  Trinity  Church,  its  present  and  prospective 
income,  and  the  management  of  the  same ;  and  sketched  an 
outline  of  work  to  be  done  hereafter,  for  the  temporal  and 
spiritual  welfare  of  the  Poor  in  the  lower  part  of  the  City  of 
Kew  York. 

The  narrative  of  the  Three  Days'  Services  being  now  com 
pleted,  it  remains  to  present,  in  full,  with  notes  and  illustra 
tions,  the  historical  account  of  Saint  Paul's  Chapel. 


HISTORICAL  SKETCH. 


THE  work  to  be  performed  "by  me  this  morning  is  one  of 
the  most  agreeable  that  could  have  fallen  to  my  lot.  A  hun 
dred  years  will  have  elapsed  to-morrow  since  the  first  act  of 
worship  was  offered,  within  these  now  venerable  walls,  to 
Almighty  GOD.  This  is  the  Eve  of  the  Centennial  Day  of 
S.  Paul's  Chapel ;  and  you  have  been  led  hither  through  a 
feeling  of  affectionate  interest  in  the  sacred  fane.  A  wish, 
or  at  least  a  readiness,  to  know  more  than  you  do  at  present 
of  its  history  is,  no  doubt,  generally  felt;  and  as  in  foreign 
lands  it  is  customary  for  a  guide,  familiar  with  the  places 
resorted  to  by  travellers,  to  accompany  them  from  one  shrine 
to  another  on  their  curious  pilgrimages,  and  point  out  at 
each  place  the  things  most  worthy  of  attention ;  so,  on  the 
present  occasion,  do  I  offer  my  services  as  your  companion, 
proposing  to  draw  aside  with  reverent  hand  the  curtains 
which  have  veiled,  for  many  years,  the  recorded  annals  of 
this  sacred  edifice,  to  exhibit,  as  among  our  most  precious 
relics,  this  dear  old  church,  and  to  recount  the  particulars 
concerning  it  which  I  have  been  able  to  gather  from  the  lips 
of  History,  or  from  the  less  authentic,  but  interesting,  reports 
of  Tradition.  It  is  gratifying  to  feel  an  assurance  that  the 
guide  will  have  the  attention  and  the  sympathy  of  his  audi 
ence,  even  though  his  task  should  be  but  imperfectly  exe 
cuted  ;  for  this  old  chapel  holds  so  secure  a  place  in  the 
affections  of  good  and  true  New  Yorkers,  that  nothing  which 
relates  to  it  can  be  deemed  unworthy  of  a  hearing.  The 
sole  intact  survivor  of  an  era  among  the  most  critical  in  our 


24 

history,  and  of  which,  in  this  vicinity,  almost  the  vestiges  are 
lost,  it  still  retains  respect  in  the  eyes  of  an  age  which  has 
made  all  things  new ;  each  year  adds  dignity  to  its  form  and 
outline,  and  each  successive  generation  brings  to  these  pre 
cincts  the  tribute  of  admiration  and  love. 

The  place  at  which  we  are  assembled  forms  the  verge 
of  the  old  classic  ground  of  Manhattan  Island.  Let  me 
remind  you  of  some  facts  which  few  among  us  remember. 
The  City  grew  and  extended  itself,  at  first,  along  the  East 
Eiver :  upon  the  western  side  of  the  island,  for  a  long 
time,  scarcely  any  progress  was  made.  Thus  it  happened 
that,  at  the  era  of  which  I  speak,  some  century  or  more 
ago,  Broadway,  above  Trinity  Church,  was  very  thinly  built, 
if,  indeed,  it  could  be  regarded  as  built  at  all ;  it  pre 
sented,  on  either  side,  a  prospect  of  fields,  orchards,  and 
gardens,  among  which  appeared  at  intervals  the  friendly 
outline  of  a  public-house.  This  scarcely  discernible  street  or 
highway,  pursuing  its  vague  course,  terminated  at  length  in 
a  wide  tract  anciently  known  as  "the  Fields,"  and  more 
recently  as  "  the  Common."  That  Common  is  now  the  City 
Hall  Park.  Originally  the  property  of  the  States  General  of 
Holland  and  the  West  India  Company,  it  was  ceded,  in 
1686,  to  the  Corporation  of  the  City  of  New  York,  and 
remains  to  this  day  in  their  possession.  In  the  early  history 
of  the  Colony,  it  is  conspicuous  beyond  all  other  spots. 
There  the  people  were  accustomed  to  assemble  for  the  asser 
tion  of  their  political  and  civil  rights;  and  many  were  the 
spirit-stirring  transactions  which  occurred  during  the  provin 
cial  era,  on  that  debatable  ground.  The  Common  afforded 
ample  room  for  such  threatening  demonstrations  as  were 
made,  from  time  to  time,  by  our  forefathers,  against  the 
policy  and  measures  of  the  ministry  of  King  George  III. ;  it 
witnessed  a  resistance  to  the  Stamp  Act  as  vigorous  and  per 
sistent  as  that  at  Boston,  and,  if  I  mistake  not,  prior  to  it  in 
time.  Upon  the  Common,  the  "  Sons  of  Liberty,"  as  they 
styled  themselves,  came  to  blows,  again  and  again,  with  the 
British  troops,  around  a  certain  liberty-pole,  which  one  party 
would  cut  down  as  fast  as  the  other  set  it  up :  and  there,  in 
the  year  1774,  did  Alexander  Hamilton,  though  but  a  boy  of 


25 

17  years,  address  a  vast  concourse  of  people,  thrilling  them  by 
the  fire  of  his  oratory  and  bearing  captive  their  judgments  by 
the  vigor  of  his  thoughts.  Such  was  the  "  Common,"  or  "  the 
Fields ;"  a  place  upon  whose  outskirts,  in  one  of  the  most 
anxious  and  unquiet  years  of  the  history  of  the  province,  a 
building  began  to  arise,  which  was  destined  to  remain  the 
sole  survivor  of  an  age  now  unregarded  and  all  but  forgotten. 
The  Common  is  still  an  open  space ;  it  bears,  however,  an 
other  name;  and  at  this  hour  there  is  to  be  seen,  of  all  that 
once  surrounded  and  adorned  it,  not  one  vestige,  save  the 
brown  walls,  the  portico,  and  lofty  spire  of  this  old  church ; 
they  still  abide  unchanged,  in  the  position  from  which  they 
have  observed,  calm  and  motionless,  the  shifting  scenes  and 
revolutions  of  this  troubled  world. 

In  the  year  of  our  Lord  1763,  there  was,  on  the  line  of 
Broadway,  and  at  the  point  where  it  struck  the  southern  and 
western  edge  of  the  Common,  a  field  of  wheat,  which  waved, 
full  bearded,  in  the  breeze.  On  the  3d  of  November,  in  that 
year,  the  Vestry  of  Trinity  Church  adopted  an  order  or  reso 
lution  providing  for  the  erection  of  a  second  Chapel  in  the 
parish,  and  fixing  upon  "  the  Church-ground  on  Broadway, 
at  the  corner  of  Partition  Street,"  or,  as  we  call  it.  Fulton 
Street,  for  the  site.  Thus,  in  that  place  where  grew  the 
wheat,  there  came  up  in  due  time,  from  the  generous  ground, 
a  holy  House,  sacred  to  Him  Who  told  us  of  His  Mission  in 
the  parable  of  the  Sower,  and  called  Himself  the  Bread  of 
Life.  The  order  was  given  in  November;  materials  were 
collected,  and  it  is  said  that  the  mortar  was  mixed,  so  that  it 
might  be  the  harder  for  having  stood  some  months  before 
use;  and  in  the  spring  of  1764  the  \vork  of  building  was 
commenced.  The  New  York  Gazette  of  Monday,  May  14, 
1764,  has  the  following  item  of  intelligence : — 

u  We  are  told  that  the  Foundation  Stone  of  the  third  English  Church, 
which  is  about  erecting  in  this  City,  is  to  be  laid  this  day.  The  Church 
is  to  be  112  by  72  feet." 

The  -autumn  of  1766  saw  it  so  far  completed  as  to  be  ready 
for  use ;  and  four  days  had  yet  to  run  of  the  three  years  since 


26 

the  Vestry  order  for  its  erection  was  given,  when  the  first 
service  was  held  within  its  walls. 

And  here  it  may  not  be  amiss  to  mention  some  facts  in  the 
general  history  of  the  Parish,  which,  although  known  to 
many  of  you  already,  may  help  others  in  forming  a  correct 
idea  of  the  changes  which  have  occurred.  The  services  of 
our  Church  were  first  statedly  held  in  a  chapel  inside  a  fort 
which  stood  near  the  Battery.  The  service  of  the  Church  of 
Holland  had  been  performed  there  during  the  old  Dutch 
regime.  In  1664,  when  the  Colony  was  surrendered  to  the 
British  Crown,  the  rites  and  order  of  the  Established  Church 
of  England  were  introduced  in  place  of  those  which  had  pre 
viously  been  used  there.  Thirty-two  years  afterwards,  A.  D. 
1696,  Trinity  Church  was  builtr  the  Rev.  William  Yesey 
being  the  first  Rector  of  the  Parish.*  On  the  1st  day  of 
July,  1752,  during  the  rectorship  of  Dr.  Barclay,  Saint 
George's,  the  first  chapel  of  ease,  was  opened :  in  January, 
1814,  it  was  destroyed  by  fire,  with -the  exception  of  the  walls, 
which  still  stood  ;  but  in  the  following  year  it  was  rebuilt 
and'  restored.-  Dr..  Barclay,  having  seen  S.  George's  Chapel 
erected,  formed  the  design  of  providing  a  second  for  the 
increasing  wants  of  the  people ;  he  did  not,  however,  live  to 
carry  out  the  project,  which  was  accomplished,  not  long 
after,  under  his  successor,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Auchmuty. 

The  architect  of  S.  Paul's  Chapel  was  a  Scotchman,  named 
McBean.  Mr.  Isaac  Bell,  who  died  A.  D.  1860,  at  the 
advanced  age  of  92,  was  personally  acquainted  with  Mr. 
McBean  many  years  after  the  Revolution,f  the  architect 
being  at  that  time  a  resident  of  New  Brunswick,  New  Jer 
sey.  There  are  good  reasons  for  supposing  that  McBean  was 
a  pupil  of  Gibbs,  a  man  much  more  widely  known.  Gibbs 
was  a  Scotchman  by  birth,  and  a  practical  architect  in  Lon 
don  at  the  time  of  his  death,  which  occurred  A.  D.  1754.  He 
built  that  greatly  admired  church,  S.  Martin's-in-the-Fields, 
an  edifice  which  S.  Paul's  so  much  resembles  in  the  interior, 


*  See  Note  A  at  the  end. 

f  See  an  article  in  the  "Crayon"  of  June,  1857,  from  the  pen  of  the  Hon. 
Gulian  C.  Verplanck. 


27 

that  there  is  no  difficulty  in  tracing  the  ideas  of  the  teacher 
in  the  work  of  his  disciple,  if,  as  seems  highly  probable, 
McBean  and  Gibbs  held  that  relation  to  each  other. 

The  builders  are  mentioned  in  a  memorandum  on  an  old 
plan  of  the  Church ;  it  is  an  elevation  of  the  south  side,  and 
on  the  back  this  inscription  appears : — 

"This  is  the  plan  designed  for  the  new  church  to  be  executed  by 
Messrs.  Gautier  and  Willis,  17th  of  July,  1764.  Jos.  Keade,  Danl. 
Horsmanden,  George  Harison,  Andw.  Barclay,  Elias  Desbrosses." 

These  five  gentlemen  were  probably  the  Building  Com 
mittee  of  the  Yestry. 

In  the  latter  part  of  the  year  1766,  a  year  memorable  in 
the  annals  of  the  Province  for  uncompromising  opposition 
to  the  Stamp  Act  by  the  citizens  of  New  York,  and  for  san 
guinary  collisions  between  them  and  the  royal  troops,  this 
chapel  was,  in  the  main,  finished :  and  on  the  30th  day  of 
October,  in  that  year,  it  was  opened  for  the  first  public 
service.  The  New  York  Gazette  of  October  20th,  1766,  con 
tains  the  following  notice  : — 

"  On  Monday,  27th  instant,  at  10  o'clock  in  the  forenoon,  the  pews  in 
S.  Paul's  Chapel  will  be  let  at  public  auction  in  said  chapel,  and  on 
the  Tuesday  following  the  chapel  will  be  opened,  and  a  sermon  preached 
on  the  occasion  by  Dr.  Atichmuty." 

The  service,  although  fixed  for  the  28th,  did  not,  however, 
take  place  until  two  days  later.  Then,  with  unusual  cere 
mony,  the  new  Chapel  was  formally  opened.  From  the 
New  York  Journal  and  General  Advertiser  of  November 
6th,  1766,  I  take  the  following  interesting  and  curious  ac 
count  of  the  scene  : — 

"Thursday  last,  the  new  Episcopal  Chapel  in  this  city  called  St. 
Paul's  and  esteemed  one  of  the  most  elegant  edifices  on  the  continent, 
was  opened  and  dedicated  to  Almighty  GOD.  The  concourse  of  people 
of  all  ranks  and  denominations  (who  attended  on  the  occasion)  was 
very  great. 

"At  10  o'clk.,  the  Council,  Clergy,  Church  Wardens,  and  Vestry  of 
Trinity  Church,  the  Mayor  and  Corporation  of  the  City,  waited  on  his 
Excellency,  Sir  Henry  Moore,  our  Governor,  at  Fort  George.  From 
thence  .they  went  in  procession  to  the  Chapel  in  the  following  order,  viz. : 


28 

u  I.  The  Mayor,  Aldermen,  and  other  Members  of  the  City  Corpora 
tion,  preceded  by  the  Charity  Children  of  Trinity  Church. 

41 II.  The  Clergy. 

"III.  The  Governor's  Council. 

44 IV.  Their  Excellencies  Sir  Henry  Moore  and  General  Gage. 

"  V.  The  Church  Wardens  and  Vestry. 

"After  Divine  Service,  which  was  adapted  to  this  particular  occasion, 
an  excellent  Sermon  was  preached  by  the  Revd.  Doctor  Samuel  Auch- 
muty,  Rector  of  Trinity  Church.  His  text  was  taken  from  Exod.  iii.  5, 
*  And  lie  said,  draw  not  nigh  hither,  put  off  thy  shoes  from  off  thy  feet, 
for  the  place  whereon  thou  standest  is  holy  ground.' 

41 A  suitable  band  of  Musick,*  vocal  and  instrumental,  was  introduced. 
Several  pieces  of  Church  Musick  and  psalms  were  sung  and  played  by 
them  in  concert  at  the  usual  intervals;  and  the  judicious  Execution 
contributed  much  to  heighten  the  solemnity.  The  whole  was  conducted 
with  the  greatest  Decorum.  The  decent  behaviour  of  the  Audience, 
consisting  of  many  Thousands  of  People,  their  devotion  during  Divine 
Service,  and  fixed  attention  to  the  Sermon,  did  Honour  to  themselves 
and  to  the  Preacher." 

Thus,  with  much  reverence,  this  beautiful  edifice,  the  pride 
and  wonder  of  the  city  in  its  day,  was  opened  and  set  apart 
for  holy  uses.  And  here  it  is  in  order  to  refer  to  that  much 
mooted  question,  whether  S.  Paul's  has  ever  been  conse 
crated.  There  is  no  evidence  that  it  ever  had  a  consecra 
tion,  in  the  full  sense  of  the  word.  There  was  no  Bishop  in 
this  country  at  the  time  when  the  Chapel  was  opened,  nor 
until  18  years  afterwards ;  and  we  have  no  intimation  that 
any  Bishop  was  at  any  time  called  on  to  remedy  the  supposed 
defect.  But  it  must  be  observed  that  the  Rector  of  Trinity 
Church  was  Commissary  of  the  Bishop  of  London,  and  that, 
in  the  account  of  the  opening  services,  it  is  expressly  stated 
that  they  were  adapted  to  that  particular  occasion,  while  in 
the  Minutes  of  the  vestry  (Vol.  I.,  November  4, 1766)  we  find 
special  mention  of  the  ceremonies  of  October  30th  as  those  of 
"the  Dedication  of  Saint  Paul's  Chappell."  Hence  I  con 
clude,  1st,  that  a  consecration  was  intended,  and,  so  far  as 


*  As  to  this  "Band  of  Musick/'  it  appears  that  Sir  Henry  Moore  made  formal 
application  to  the  Vestry  for  permission  to  introduce  it,  and  that  such  permis 
sion  was  granted,  not  without  hesitation,  out  of  respect  for  him,  and  on  condi 
tion  that  nothing  unsuited  to  the  solemnity  of  the  occasion  should  be  performed. 
— Minutes  of  Vestry,  Vol.  I.,  Oct.  29,  1766. 


29 

practicable  in  the  absence  of  a  Bishop,  performed  ;  and  2dly, 
that  the  proceedings  had,  constructively  if  not  formally,  the 
license  and  sanction  of  that  Prelate  who  held  in  his  jurisdic 
tion,  the  Province  of  New  York.  And  now,  having  spoken  of 
the  erection  of  the  Church,  and  of  those  ceremonies  with 
which  it  was  solemnly  set  apart  for  sacred  uses,  I  shall  pro 
ceed  to  review  its  subsequent  history,  and  to  mention  some 
of  the  more  memorable  of  the  occurrences  which  have  taken 
place  here. 

The  vears  1775  and   1776  were  full  of  agitation  in  the 

v 

Province  and  City.  In  the  month  of  October,  1775,  Try  on, 
the  British  Governor,  terrified  at  tiie  look  of  affairs,  took 
refuge  on  the  frigate  "  Halifax,"  and  left  Xew  York,  practi 
cally,  in  the  hands  of  the  revolutionists.  Early  in  the  year 
1776,  an  American  force,  commanded  by  General  Lee,  and 
acting  under  the  orders  of  Washington,  entered  and  held  the 
city.  It  was  then  that  the  Clergy  of  the  Church  of  England 
closed  their  churches,  on  being  forbidden  to  read  the  prayers 
for  the  King :  to  use  the  language  of  a  contemporary,  "  the 
allegiance  they  had  sworn  to  their  lawful  Sovereign,  and  an 
affectionate  Attachment  to  his  virtuous  Character,  compelled 
the  Clergy  to  shut  the  Doors,  rather  than  omit  the  dutiful 
Addresses  which  the  Church  enjoined  them  daily  to  offer  to 
Heaven  for  his  safety."  S.  Paul's  Chapel  remained  closed 
for  several  months,  during  which  time  those  events  occurred 
which  are  so  familiar  to  the  student  of  the  history  of  our 
revolution.*  On  the  14th  of  April,  1776,  Washington  ar 
rived  in  New  York,  and  assumed  command  of  the  American 
forces ;  and  on  the  29th  of  June  Admiral  Howe  arrived  at 
Sandy  Hook  with  a  fleet  and  transports  bearing  the  troops 
to  whom  had  been  assigned  the  task  of  capturing  the  town. 
Then  followed  that  disastrous  campaign  on  Long  Island,  and 
the  summer  of  reverses,  the  end  of  which  saw  the  Americans 
in  disorderly  retreat  and  the  royal  arms  victorious.  On  Sun 
day,  the  15th  of  September,  the  British  forces,  under  Lord 
Howe  and  Sir  Henry  Clinton,  took  possession  of  New  York, 

*  See  Note  B  at  the  end. 


30 

which  remained  from  that  day  until  November  25th,  1783, 
in  their  hands. 

That  same  week,  early  on  the  morning  of  Saturday,  Septem 
ber  21st,  between  1  and  2  o'clock,  the  great  fire  broke  out, 
in  which  about  one-eighth  part  of  this  city  was  destroyed.* 
Trinity  Church,  the  Rectory,  and  the  Charity  School,  were 
among  the  buildings  that  were  burnt.  Saint  Paul's  was  in 
imminent  danger;  its  preservation  was  due,  under  Provi 
dence,  to  the  remarkable  energy  and  strenuous  personal 
exertions  of  Dr.  Inglis,  the  Rector  of  the  Parish.  On  the 
following  Sunday,  September  22d,  one  week  after  the  occu 
pation  of  the  city,  and  but  one  night  after  the  fire,  Saint 
Paul's  was  re-opened  for  Divine  Service.  The  occasion  was 
in  all  respects  a  memorable  one.  The  preacher  was  the 
Rev.  Thos.  L.  O'Beirne,  Chaplain  to  Admiral  Lord  Howe : 
his  sermon  was  printed  at  the  request  of  the  congregation. 
The  title  is  as  follows : — 

"A  Sermon  preached  at  St.  Paul's,  New  York  Sept.  22,  1776.  Being 
the  first  Sunday  after  the  English  Churches  were  opened  on  General 
Howe's  taking  Possession  of  the  Town  and  the  Day  subsequent  to  the 
Attempt  to  destroy  New  York  by  Fire.  By  the  Reverend  Mr.  O'Beirne, 
Chaplain  to  the  Right  Honourable  Lord  Viscount  Howe.  Published  by 
Particular  Desire  of  the  Congregation.  New  York,  1776." — pp.  20. 

His  text  was  taken  from  Jer.  xii.  15,  "  And  it  shall  come 
to  pass,  after  that  I  have  plucked  them  out  I  will  return,  and 
have  compassion  on  them,  and  will  bring  them  again,  every 
man  to  his  heritage,  and  every  man  to  his  land."  The 
preacher  was  an  Irishman  by  birth ;  he  begins  with  an 
impassioned  earnestness  characteristic  of  his  race  : — 


*  "About  one  o'clock  in  the  morning  of  the  21st  *  *  *  *  a  fire  chanced 
to  break  out  in  a  small  wooden  public-house  of  low  character  near  Whitehall 
Slip.  The  weather  had  been  hot  and  dry,  a  fresh  gale  was  blowing  from  the 
southwest,  the  fire  spread  rap'dly,  and  the  east  side  of  Broadway,  as  far  as 
Exchange  Place,  became  a  heap  of  ruins.  *  *  *  *  The  wind  veering  to 
the  southeast,  the  fire  crossed  Broadway,  above  Morris  Street,  destroyed  Trinity 
Church,  and  the  Lutheran  Church,  and,  sparing  St.  Paul's  Chapel,  extended  to 
Barclay  Street  *  *  *  *  of  the  four  thousand  tenements  of  the  city,  more 
than  four  hundred  were  burnt  down.  In  his  report,  Howe,  without  the  slight 
est  ground,  attributed  the  accident  to  a  conspiracy." — Bancrofts  Hist.  U.  S., 
Vol.  IX.,  p.  129. 


31 

"  Was  it  then  Reserved  for  a  Stranger  to  your  Persons  and  your  Altars 
to  address  you  on  this  happy  Restoration  of  your  Public  Worship  ?  This 
solemn  Re-establishment  of  your  Religious  Assemblies?  Was  it  to  have 
been  the  good  Fortune  of  One,  to  whom  you  were  unknown  but  by  your 
Sufferings,  to' be  among  the  first  of  the  Ministers  of  God  to  bring  the 
Comfort  and  Consolation  of  his  Word  to  an  afflicted  and  persecuted 
People?" 

He  draws  a  very  graphic  picture  of  the  troubles  of  the 
' day : — 

"Who  that  was  a  Witness  of  the  cruel  and  disastrous  Deed  of  the 
Night  before  last,  could  promise  himself  that  you  should  be  assembled 
this  Day  in  the  House  of  God,  to  praise  Him  for  your  wonderful  Deliv 
erance  ?  Who  could  have  hoped  that  this  Temple  would  remain  a 
Monument  of  the  returning  Favour  of  Heaven,  amidst  the  Horror  of  the 
Ruins  through  which  you  must  have  passed  to  approach  it?  Which  of 
you  could  have  said  to  himself,  that  he  should  see  those  Doors  opened 
once  more  for  the  Reception  of  the  Faithful,  tho'  as  yet  but  as  the 
Shaking  of  an  Olive  Tree,  and  the  Gleaning  Grapes  when  the  Vimtage  is 
done  ?  or  hear  these  Walls,  so  long  silent  and  unfrequented,  filled  again 
with  the  Praises  of  him  to  whose  Name  you  had  raised  them?  Is  not 
this  the  Lord's  Doing?  Is  not  this  our  God  for  Whom  we  have  waited? 
We  have  waited  for  him,  he  hath  saved  us,  and  we  will  be  glad  and 
rejoice  in  his  salvation." 

I  must  make  one  more  extract  from  this  sermon :  the 
words  which  I  shall  quote  seem  to  have  been  uttered  in 
an  almost  prophetic  spirit :  — 

"This  has  never  been,  and  I  am  confident  never  will  be,  the  Pulpit  of 
Contention  and  Strife.  No  Prophets,  prophesying  Lies  in  the  Name  of 
the  Lord  who  sent  them  not,  shall  ever  turn  it  into  a  Stage  for  Sedition. 
The  Words  of  Truth  and  Life  will  never  be  perverted  here  in  promoting 
Violence  and  Bloodshed,  under  Pretence  of  consulting  the  Interests  of 
the  God  of  Peace ;  to  cause  the  Religion  of  the  lowly,  mild,  and  meek 
Jesus  to  speak  the  Language  of  Ambition,  Slaughter,  and  Revenge ;  or 
to  consecrate  and  deliver  out  in  his  Name  the  Sword  that  is  to  be 
plunged  by  his  Followers  into  each  others  Breasts." 

These  were  remarkable  words,  especially  when  it  is  con 
sidered  that  they  were  spoken  by  a  military  chaplain  to  'a 
people  intensely  excited  by  alarm  and  passion.  And  how 
marvellously  have  they  been  fulfilled,  not  here  only,  but 
throughout  our  Church  at  large,  which,  sedulously  avoiding 


32 

political  questions,  has  confined  herself  to  her  proper  work  of 
preaching  the  Gospel,  and  ministering  the  ordinances  of 
Divine  Grace,  and  now  stands  united  after  the  dreadful  con 
flict  of  the  civil  war!* 

Thus  was  this  Chapel  re  opened ;  and  for  some  years  it 
held  the  position  of  the  most  "important  Church  in  the  City. 
The  ruins  of  Trinity  remained  untouched  during  the  Revolu 
tionary  War ;  the  grass  grew  in  the  crevices  and  the  birds 
had  shelter  in  the  roofless  walls ;  and  for  twelve  years  Saint 
Paul's  served  as  the  Parish  Church.  Meanwhile  the  strug 
gle  for  independence  went  onr  and  the  power  of  King  George 
III.,  waning  from  year  to  year,  declined  towards  that  point 
at  which  the  sun  was  destined  to  set  in  heavy  clonds  of  dis 
appointment  and  defeat.  At  last  we  find  ourselves,  after  the 
passage  of  those  stormy  years,  once  more  assembled  in  this 
Church;  the  day  is  April  30th,  1789,  and  the  occasion  is 


*  "  Thomas  Lewis  0'Beirner  D.D.,  a  learned  prelate  of  tho  Established  Church, 
and  a  native  of  the  County  of  Longford,  in.  Ireland,  born  in  1148.  was  descended 
from  a  Roman  Catholic  family,  by  whom  he  was  sent  to  St.  Omer's  at  an  early 
age,  together  with  his  brother  John,  to  study  for  the  priesthood.  In  due  course 
John  took  orders,  and  became  a  Roman  Catholic  priest  in  the  diocese  of  which 
his  brother  was  afterwards  the  Protestant  Bishop.  Thomas,  on  the  contrary 
renounced  the  Roman  Catholic  creed,  and  at  the  commencement  of  the  American 
war,  having  taken  orders,  accompanied  Lord  Howe  as  chaplain  of  the  fleet.  On 
his  return  to  England  he  published  a  vindication  of  his  patron,  whose  conduct 
was  at  that  time  a  subject  of  Parliamentary  inquiry,  and  his  connection  with 
that  noble  family  introduced  him  to  the  Duke  of  Portland.  In  1782  he  accom 
panied  the  Duke  to  Ireland  as  private  secretary,  and  the  following  year  obtained 
from  that  nobleman  two  valuable  livings  in  Northumberland  and  in  Cumber 
land.  He  was  subsequently  first  chaplain  to  Earl  Fitzvvilliam,  and  was  pro 
moted  to  the  See  of  Ossory,  whence,  on  the  death  of  Dr.  Maxwell,  he  was 
translated  to  that  of  Meath.  The  writings  of  this  popular  prelate  were,  'The 
Crucifixion,'  a  poem,  4to,  1775;  'The  Generous  Impostor,'  a  comedy,  1780; 
'A  Short  History  of  the  Last  Session,  of  Parliament,'  Svo,  anonymous;  Con 
siderations  on  the  Late  Disturbances,  by  a  Consistent  Whig.'  Svo;  ''Considera 
tions  on  the  Principles  of  Naval  Discipline  and  Courts  Martial,'  8vor  1781;  and 
several  sermons  and  charges.  He  died1  February  15tht  1823." — Blake's  Biog. 
Diet. 

See  also  Croly's  Life  of  George  IV.,  for  some  very  curious  and  entertaining 
incidents  respecting  O'Beirne.  The  author  mentions  a  famous  sermon  preached 
by  him  in  New  York,  and  remarks  that  he  was  the  only  one  connected  with 
Lord  Howe's  conciliatory  mission  who  brought  back  any  laurels. 


33 

that  of  the  Inauguration  of  George  Washington,  First  Presi 
dent  of  the  "  United  States  of  America." 

The  old  Confederation  had  terminated,  and  the  First  Con 
gress  under  our  present  Constitution  assembled  for  the  august 
ceremony.  It  took  place  at  the  City  Hall,  which  then  stood 
in  Wall  Street,  at  the  head  of  Broad,  just  where  the  Treasury 
now  stands.  That  building,  a  stately  edifice  in  the  Tuscan 
and  Doric  styles,  known  after  1789  as  Federal  Hall,  arid  still 
remaining,  in  1813,  a  rare  old  relic  of  other  days,  had  been 
fitted  up  for  the  occasion,  with  many  alterations  and  embel 
lishments,  under  the  direction  of  an  architect  and  engineer 
named  L'Enfant,  of  whom  I  shall  have  occasion  to  speak  by 
and  by,  in  connection  with  that  strange  piece  of  workman 
ship,  the  altar-piece  of  this  Chapel.  In  the  gallery  of  the 
City  Hall,  which  looked  on  Wall  Street,  the  oath  of  office 
was  administered  to  the  President,  in  the  presence  of  what 
was  called  in  those  days  "  an  immense  assemblage  of  people:" 
he  then  proceeded  to  the  Senate  Chamber,  and  delivered  to 
both  Houses  of  Congress  his  inaugural  address.  After  this 
the  President,  attended  by  the  whole  company,  proceeded  on 
foot  to  S.  Paul's,  to  invoke  the  divine  blessing  on  that  nation 
which  it  had  pleased  Almighty  GOD  to  call  up  on  the  face  of 
the  earth.  Appropriate  services  were  said  by  Bishop  Pro 
vost,  who  had  been  appointed  by  the  Senate  one  of  the  chap 
lains  to  Congress.  At  the  inauguration  of  our  rulers,  scenes 
like  that  are  no  longer  beheld  :  we  have  removed  the  ancient 
landmarks  which  our  fathers  set,  and  have  declined  to  follow 
their  reverent  and  religious  example. 

After  his  inauguration,  Washington  attended  S.  Paul's 
Chapel  until  Trinity  Church  was  rebuilt.  In  his  Diary,  1789 
to  1791,  as  regularly  almost  as  the  Lord's  Day  comes  round, 
we  find  the  entry,  "  Went  to  St.  Paul's  Chapel  in  the  fore 
noon."  An  interesting  record  occurs  in  that  diary,  under 
the  heading  of  Monday,  July  5th,  1790,  as  follows  :— 

"About  one  o'clock  a  sensible  oration  was  delivered  in  St.  Paul's 
Chapel  by  Mr.  Brockholst  Livingston,  on  the  occasion  of  the  day — the 
tendency  of  which  was  to  show  the  different  situation  we  are  now  in, 
under  an  excellent  government  of  our  own  choice,  to  what  it  would 
have  been  if  we  had  not  succeeded  in  our  opposition  to  the  attempts  of 
3 


34 

Great  Britain  to  enslave  us;  and  how  much  we  ought  to  cherish  the 
blessings  which  are  within  our  reach,  and  to  cultivate  the  seeds  of 
harmony  and  unanimity  in  all  our  public  councils.  There  were  several 
other  points  touched  upon  in  sensible  manner." — Washington's  Private 
Diaries,  edited  by  Lossing,  p.  144.  C.  B.  Richardson,  New  York,  1860. 

Let  us  pass  on,  in  our  historical  review,  to  the  early  part 
of  the  present  century.  Its  first  few  years  were  years  of 
great  excitement  and  uneasiness,  caused  by  the  position 
which  the  British  Government  assumed  on  the  Right  of 
Search.  The  records  of  those  days  sound  more  like  fable 
than  sober  fact.  Incredible,  and  even  absurd,  as  it  now 
seems,  English  cruisers  were  in  the  habit  of  sailing  up  and 
down  our  coasts  and  into  and  out  of  our  bays,  of  stopping 
and  searching  our  trading  vessels,  and  of  taking  from  them 
whomsoever  they  chose  to  claim  as  subjects  of  the  Crown. 
Thus,  for  instance,  on  Friday,  April  25th,  1806,  at  5  o'clock 
in  the  evening,  a  poor  little  sloop,  laden  with  market  produce 
and  stores  and  hailing  from  the  Delaware,  was  quietly  making 
for  the  Narrows  on  her  way  to  New  York.  Preposterously 
as  it  sounds  to  us,  when  off  Sandy  Hook  she  was  fired  into 
by  a  huge  man-of-war  of  two  decks  of  guns,  bearing  his 
Britannic  Majesty's  commission  and  named  the  "  Leander." 
At  the  first  shot,  the  little  craft  very  submissively  hove  to. 
The  frigate,  however,  fired  again,  and  by  this  second  shot, 
John  Pierce,  the  brother  of  the  captain  of  the  sloop,  who  was 
standing  at  the  helm,  was  instantly  killed.  "When  the  sloop 
came  up  to  the  city,  bringing  the  news  and  the  corpse 
together,  there  occurred  one  of  those  movements  which  are 
prophetic  of  coming  trouble.  The  affidavits  of  the  captain 
and  master,  containing  a  full  account  of  the  outrage,  were 
laid  before  the  Common  Council  by  the  Mayor,  and  it  was 
thereupon  ordered  that  the  funeral  of  the  murdered  man 
should  take  place  at  the  expense  of  the  city.  At  12  o'clock 
meridian,  on  the  28th  of  April,  the  ceremonies  were  performed, 
in  such  a  manner  as  to  testify  the  depth  and  intensity  of  the 
public  indignation.  The  body,  having  been  taken  from  the 
City  Hall,  was  carried  in  procession  down  Wall  Street  to 
Pearl,  through  Pearl  and  Whitehall  Streets  to  Broadway,  and 
up  Broadway  to  St.  Paul's.  The  flags  on  the  shipping  were 


35 

set  at  half-mast ;  all  the  bells  tolled  sullenly  and  ominously. 
The  corpse  was  preceded  by  the  clergy  in  white  scarfs,  and 
followed  by  the  brother  of  the  deceased  and  the  hands  of  the 
sloop ;  after  them  came  shipmasters  and  sailors,  and  a  great 
concourse  of  citizens.  The  funeral  service  was  read  in  St. 
Paul's  by  Dr.  Hobart,  and  .the  body  was  buried  in  the  church 
yard.  The  scene,  no  doubt,  produced  the  desired  impression. 
When  we  read  such  stories  in  the  records  of  the  past,  we  com 
prehend  better  the  principles  which  were  involved  in  the 
"  War  of  1812,"  and  perceive  the  necessity  laid  on  our  fore 
fathers  of  fighting  it  out  as  they  did. 

Pursuing  the  chronological  order,  we  make  our  next  pause 
on  reaching  the  year  1817.  In  that  year  the  Lutherans  cele 
brated  the  300th  anniversary  of  the  commencement  of  the 
Reformation.  Similar  commemorations  had  been  held  in 
Europe,  A.  D.  1617  and  1717.  The  Evangelical  Lutheran 
Synod  of  the  State  of  New  York  adopted  resolutions  in  the 
year  1815,  inviting  the  attention  of  their  synods  and  churches 
throughout  North  America  to  the  approaching  jubilee.  The 
31st  day  of  October,  1817,  having  been  fixed  upon  for  the 
solemnities  and  exercises,  they  were  held  in  the  German  lan 
guage  in  the  Lutheran  Church  in  the  forenoon,  and  in  English, 
in  the  afternoon  of  the  same  day,  in  St.  Paul's  Chapel,  by 
permission  of  Bishop  Hobart.  The  Rev.  Frederick  Christian 
Schaeffer,  the  Lutheran  pastor,  had  the  general  direction  of 
the  commemorative  proceedings,  which  consisted  mainly  of  a 
musical  performance  and  a  discourse.  In  the  forenoon  Mr. 
Schaeffer  was  assisted  by  the  Eev.  Mr.  Milnor,  one  of  our 
own  clergy,  and  the  Rev.  Mr.  Labagh,  of  the  Reformed 
Dutch  Church ;  in  the  afternoon,  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Mortimor, 
of  the  Moravian  Society,  and  the  Rev.  Messrs.  Feltus  aad 
Milnor,  of  our  church.  Tickets  of  admission  were  gratui 
tously  issued ;  many  thousands  of  persons,  it  is  stated,  were 
present;  and  great  numbers  found  themselves  unable  to 
obtain  access  to  the  church.  Mr.  Schaefier,  in  his  account 
of  the  solemnities,  presents  his  thanks  "  to  Messrs.  Erben  and 
Taylor,  to  the  gentlemen  that  constituted  the  orchestra,  and 
to  all  the  ladies  and  gentlemen  who  in  both  churches  assisted 
in  the  attractive  and  excellent  musical  performances."  .The 


36 

order  of  solemnities,  in  the  German  and  English  languages, 
was  nearly  the  same.  Mr.  Peter  Erben  was  engaged  to 
superintend  the  musical  performances  in  the  German  lan 
guage,  while  the  Handel  and  Haydn  Society,  under  the 
direction  of  Mr.  S.  P.  Taylor,  conducted  the  music  in  the 
English  tongue.  The  New  York  Historical  Society,  at  a 
meeting  November  llth,  1817,  passed  a  resolution  thanking 
Mr.  Schaeffer  for  his  discourse,  and  requesting  a  copy  of  it 
for  publication.  It  was  accordingly  published  by  Kirk  & 
Mercein,  93  Gold  Street,  together  with  a  narrative,  and  a 
programme  of  the  services,  in  pamphlet  form,  12mo,  pp.  56. 

In  the  summer  of  the  12th  year  after  that  in  which 
S.  Paul's  witnessed  the  obsequies  of  the  murdered  sailor,  it 
was  opened  for  another  ceremony  which  fixed  the  attention 
of  the  entire  community.  The  occasion  referred  to  was  that 
of  the  translation  of  the  remains  of  Montgomery,  and  their 
interment  beneath  this  chancel.  General  Richard  Mont 
gomery  fell,  as  is  well  known,  at  Quebec,  Dec.  31,  1775,  in 
an  assault  on  the  lower  town,  and  was  buried  near  the  spot 
where  he  died.  The  design  of  removing  his  bones  to  New 
York,  long  entertained,  was  successfully  accomplished  in  the 
year  of  our  Lord  1818.  "  After  resting  in  peace  for  42  years, 
within  the  walls  and  under  the  sod  of  this  garrison,"  writes  a 
correspondent  of  the  "  Commercial  Advertiser,"  of  July  7th, 
1818,  from  Quebec,  "  the  skeleton  of  General  Montgomery 
was  on  Saturday  last  raised  from  its  place  of  deposit  and  took 
its  departure  for  New  York,  where  it  is  destined  to  a  more 
distinguished  place  of  interment  in  the  Church  of  S.  Paul  of 
that  city."  The  coffin,  when  taken  up,  was  found  in  com 
plete  preservation ;  the  skeleton  of  the  brave  soldier  was 
perfect,  save  the  lower  jaw  which  had  been  shot  away.  The 
remains  were  brought  down  under  an  escort  of  Revolutionary 
officers  and  a  guard  of  regular  troops ;  they  were  carried 
ashore  at  Fort  Gansevoort,  received  by  the  Governor's  Guards, 
and  taken  to  the  City  Hall.  On  Wednesday,  July  8th,  1818, 
the  funeral  took  place.  No  scene  so  imposing  had  been  wit 
nessed  since  the  funeral  of  Washington.  The  coffin  was 
brought  to  Saint  Paul's,  under  a  military  escort,  followed  by 
an  immense  procession  ;  the  pall-bearers  were  Colonel  Yarick 


37 

(President  of  the  Cincinnati),  Colonel  Trumbull,  Colonel 
North,  General  M.  Clarkson,  Colonel  Willett,  Colonel  Fish, 
Captain  Tiebout,  and  General  Giles.  The  burial  service 
was  read  by  Bishop  Hobart ;  and  a  brief  eulogium  was  pro 
nounced  by  Dr.  Mason.  The  choral  parts  of  the  service  were 
performed  by  the  Handel  and  Haydn  Society,  while  Mr. 
S.  P.  Taylor  played  the  organ.  The  bones  were  laid  to  rest 
under  that  monument,  with  the  aspect  of  which  you  are  so 
familiar,  and  which  had  been  previously  erected  to  his  mem 
ory  by  order  of  Congress. 

Six  years  afterward,  A.  D.  182tt,  La  Fayette  arrived  in  the 
United  States,  having  accepted  an  invitation  to  revisit  the 
country  which  he  had  helped  to  raise  from  the  humility  of  a 
province  to  the  honor  and  dignity  of  a  nation.  His  arrival 
and  progress  from  city  to  city  and  State  to  State  were 
attended  by  such  demonstrations  as  might  have  better  befitted 
a  demi-god  than  a  man,  so  exuberant  was  the  joy  with  which 
he  was  again  beheld,  and  so  unbounded  the  evidences  of 
attachment  to  his  person.  Indeed,  on  reading  the  narrative 
of  that  tour,  the  final  wonder  is  that  human  nature  could 
have  sustained  such  fatigues,  and  that  he  ever  reached  his 
home  alive.  On  the  16th  of  August,  1824,  he  landed  at 
Staten  Island ;  on  the  following  day  he  came  to  New  York. 
Among  the  tributes  of  respect  shown  to  him,  there  must  be 
mentioned  a  grand  concert  of  sacred  music  which  took  place 
in  S.  Paul's,  and  at  which  he  was  present,  attended  by  his 
suite.  The  notice  of  this  entertainment  is  as  follows.  I  take 
it  from  the  "  Commercial  Advertiser  "  of  September  9th. 

"Grand  Musical  Performance.  The  Marquis  de  La  Fayette  has 
appointed  to-morrow  morning,  at  12  o'clock,  to  attend  the  Grand  Per 
formances  of  the  New  York  Choral  Society  in  S.  Paul's  Church.  An 
appropriate  selection  of  Sacred  Music  from  the  best  masters  will  be  per 
formed.  James  H.  Swindells,  Conductor.  Tickets  at  One  Dollar  may 
be  had  at  J.  H.  Swindells,  65  Bowery;  W.  N.  Seymour,  6  Chatham 
Square ;  E.  Riley,  29  Chatham  Street ;  J.  Cooper,  6  Maiden  Lane ;  T. 
Birch,  235  Chapel  Street,  near  Canal ;  of  the  members  in  general,  and 
at  the  door  of  the  Church  from  10  till  12  o'clock.  By  order,  T.  Birch, 
Secretary." 

While  the  subject  of  "grand  musical  performances"  is 


before  us,  let  me  observe,  that  oratorios  were  often  given 
here  in  old  time.  Thus  for  example,  to  show  how  they  were 
produced  and  with  what  favor  they  were  received,  it  will  be 
sufficient  to  refer  to  one,  which  was  performed  in  the  month 
of  May,  1816.  The  "Commercial  Advertiser"  of  May  27 
announces  it  as  follows : — 


ORATORIO   AT   ST.  PAUL'S. 

The  public  are  informed,  that  the  Oratorio,  which  has  heen  long  in 
rehearsal,  will  be  performed  in  St.  Paul's  Church,  on  the  evenings  of  the 
28th  and  30th  May.  Tickets  (3  dollars)  to  be  had  of  Messrs.  Eastburn, 
Kirk  &  Co.,  Messrs.  T.  &  J.  Swords,  Mr.  Peter  Burtsell,  and  at  Mr. 
Goodrich's  Circulating  Library,  New  York,  and  of  Mr.  A.  Spooner, 
editor  of  the  "Long  Island  Star,"  Brooklyn.  Doors  open  at  seven 
o'clock,  and  performance  to  commence  at  half-past  seven. 

Leader,  Mr.  GILLINGHAM. 

Organist,  Mr.  8.  P.  TAYLOR. 
e 

The  order  of  the  performance  for  Tuesday  evening,  the  28th,  will  be 
as  follows: — 

PAET  FIHST. 

Overture  occasional Handel. 

Recitative — Comfort  ye,  my  People 

Air — Every  Valley " 

Chorus — And  the  Glory  of  the  Lord " 

Recitative  and  Air — O  thou  that  tellest  good 
tidings  to  Zion kt 

Chorus — Unto  us  a  Child  is  born " 

Solo — Violin,  by  Mr.  Gillingham Viotti. 

Air— Total  Eclipse Handel. 

Chorus — Then  round  about  the  Starry  Throne. 

Recitative — Ye  Sacred  Priests 

Air — Farewell a 

Duett — There  is  a  stream Trajetta. 

Grand  double  Chorus — He  gave  them  hailstones 

for  rain Handel. 

Air — Lord,  remember  David 4k 

Air  and  Chorus — Strike  the  Cymbal — accom 
panied  by  the  six-keyed  patent  bugle Precetta. 


39 


SECOND  PART. 

Overture  —  Sampson  .......................  Handel. 

Chorus  —  Give  to  the  Lord  ..................  Trajetta. 

Air  —  Raptured  Notes  ......................         a 

Recitative  and  Chorus  —  Eloi  ................  Dr.  Harrington. 

Dead  March  in  Saul  ........................  Handel. 

Air  —  Thou  didst  not  leave  his  soul  in  hell  .....          " 

Chorus  —  Lift  up  your  heads  .................          4i 

Air—  O  !  had  I  Jubal's  lyre  ................. 

Duett  —  The  Lord  is  a  man  of  war   ...........         u 

Grand    double    Chorus  —  The    Horse    and    his 


A         r    /*u  "i"-  *iTc  "  "i  '•  ................. 

Air  —  Let  the  bright  Seraphim  ............... 

Finale  —  Grand  Hallelujah  ................... 

To  this  advertisement  another  is  added,  as  follows  :  — 

ORATORIO 

At  St.  Paul's,  evenings  of  2Sth  and  30th  May. 

The  Committee  again  inform  the  public,  that  the  objects  of  the 
Oratorio  are  to  aid  in  rebuilding  Ziori  Church,  and  should  the  nett 
proceeds  exceed  $2,000,  it  is  intended  to  present  $500  to  the  Orphan 
Asylum.  A  generous  public  are  requested  to  further  the  laudable  objects 
of  the  Oratorio.  A  great  expense  has  necessarily  been  incurred  in  order 
to  "get  up  "  the  performance  in  becoming  style. 

Tickets,  three  dollars,  to  be  had  at  Messrs.  Eastburn,  Kirk  &  Co.  ; 
Mr.  P.  Burtsell,  Wall  Street;  Messrs.  T.  &  J.  Swords,  Pearl  Street; 
Mr.  A.  T.  Goodrich,  Broadway  ;  Mr.  S.  A.  Burtis,  Peck  Slip  ;  Mr.  E. 
Riley,  near  the  Museum,  Chatham  Street  ;  and  Mr.  Spoon  er,  Brooklyn. 

• 

That  the  people  who  went  to  hear  the  oratorio  were  not 
ill  pleased,tmay  be  inferred  from  the  enthusiastic  expressions 
of  one  who  thus  expatiates  in  the  "Advertiser"  of  June  1, 
1816  :— 

COMMUNICATION. 

Having  been  present  at  the  Oratorio  on  Thursday  evening,  will  you 
permit  me,  through  the  medium  of  your  useful  paper,  to  return  those 
ladies  and  gentlemen,  from  whom  I  received  so  rich  a  treat,  rny  sincere 
thanks.  In  the  advertisements  of  the  gentlemen  composing  the  commit 
tee,  they  promised  us  something  far  superior  to  any  thing  we  had  heard 
of  sacred  music  in  this  city  ;  and  indeed  they  have  fulfilled  their  engage- 


40 

ments.  The  Choruses  \vere  well  sung  and  played  both  in  time  and  tune. 
The  Double  Chorus  of  the  Hailstones  was  great,  and  repeated  with  won 
derful  effect.  The  Overture  commencing  the  second  part  was  sublime. 
The  Solo  of  the  Leader,  Mr.  Gillingham,  was  played  with  great  taste  and 
execution.  But  the  Double  Chorus  of  the  Horse  and  his  Rider  exceeded 
every  thing  I  could  have  imagined  from  the  power  of  music  to  pro 
duce;  and  I  declare  it  as  my  belief,  that  in  no  other  city  in  the  Union 
have  the  lovers  of  music  ever  enjoyed  so  rich  a  repast. 

With  this  enthusiastic  panegyric  I  might  bring  to  a  close 
the  first  branch  of  my  subject,  and,  concluding  the  narrative 
of  historic  and  secular  transactions  connected  with  St.  Paul's, 
proceed  to  other  matters  relating  to  the  structure  itself. 
Before  doing  so,  however,  let  me  refer,  though  briefly,  to  one 
or  two  of  the  purely  ecclesiastical  services  which  have  been 
held  here,  as  standing  forth  conspicuously  in  the  even  line  of 
the  almost  uninterrupted  worship  and  devotion  of  a  hundred 
years.  Such  was  that  memorable  service  which  was  per 
formed  on  Friday,  June  29th,  1787,  when  the  first  Bishop  of 
New  York  was  formally  received  by  the  Convention  of  this 
Diocese,  in  St.  ^Paul's.  After  a  long  and  tempestuous  voy 
age,  Bishop  Provoost  arrived  in  this  port,  from  England, 
whither,  as  is  well  known,  he  had  gone  to  obtain  Consecra 
tion  from  the  Prelates  of  our  Mother  Church  ;  and  being 
at  length  ready  to  assume  the  charge  of  the  Diocese  of  New 
York,  he  was  installed,  by  solemn  induction,  in  that  sacred 
and  most  responsible  work  and  charge.  Upon  the  day 
already  mentioned,  the  Convention  of  the  Diocese  met,  ac 
cording  to  adjournment,  and  went  to  the  house  of  the  Bishop, 
where  they  were  received  by  him.  A  procession  was  then 

formed  in  the  following  order : 
fo 

1.  The  Charity  Scholars. 

2.  Members  of  the  Church  at  large. 

3.  Gentlemen  of  the  Vestry  of  Trinity  Church. 

4.  Lay  Delegates  of  the  Convention. 

5.  The  Bishop  and  Clergy. 

In  this  order  they  proceeded  to  St.  Paul's  Chapel.  Upon 
their  entrance,  an  anthem  suitable  to  the  occasion  was  sung 
by  the  Charity  Children ;  the  morning  service  was  read  by 
the  liev.  Mr.  Rowland ;  and  there  followed  an  address  to  the 


41 

Bishop,  and  his  reply.  (Journals  of  Convention,  Dioc.  N.  Y.3 
1787.) 

I  shall  refer  to  but  one  more  service ;  it  was  held  in  St. 
Paul's  on  Wednesday,  the  31st  of  October,  1832,  during  the 
session  of  the  General  Convention.  The  Rev.  John  H.  Hop 
kins,  D.  D.,  Bishop  elect  of  the  Diocese  of  Vermont,  the 
Rev.  Benjamin  B.  Smith,  D.  D.,  Bishop  elect  of  the  Diocese 
of  Kentucky,  the  Rev.  Charles  P.  Mcllvaine,  D.  D.,  Bishop 
elect  of  the  Diocese  of  Ohio,  and  the  Rev.  George  W.  Doane, 
D.  D.,  Bishop  elect  of  the  Diocese  of  New  Jersey,  were  con 
secrated  to  the  sacred  office  of  Bishop.  The  Rt.  Rev.  Wm. 
White,  D.  D.,  was  at  that  time  the  Presiding  Bishop,  and 
there  were  assembled,  on  that  occasion,  as  his  coadjutors, 
Bishops  Griswold,  Bowen,  Brownell,  H.  U.  Onderdonk, 
Meade,  B.  T.  Onderdonk,  and  Ives.  The  Consecration  sermon 
was  preached  by  Bishop  Onderdonk  of  Pennsylvania,  from 
the  text  Isaiah  Ixvi.  21,  "And  I  will  also  take  of  them  for 
priests  and  for  Levites,  saith  the  LORD."  The  only  Bishops 
absent  were  the  Rt.  Rev.  Drs.  Moore  and  Stone. 

And  now  let  us  proceed  to  another  division  of  our  sub 
ject. 

This  church  remains,  substantially,  such  as  it  was  in  its 
first  days  ;  alterations  have  been  made  in  it,  but  they  have 
not  changed  its  general  appearance.  For  justness  of  propor 
tion  and  elegance  of  style,  it  still  holds  a  leading  place 
among  our  city  churches,  and  must  be  regarded  as  a  fine 
specimen  of  its  particular  school  of  architecture.  When  it 
was  built,  the  western  end  commanded  an  uninterrupted 
view  of  the  river  and  the  Jersey  shores  ;  for  the  waters  of 
the  Hudson  then  flowed  up  to  the  line  of  Greenwich  Street ; 
all  beyond  is  "  made  land."  The  prospect  must  have  been  a 
pleasant  one,  and  charming  to  the  eye ;  we  can  imagine  our 
forefathers,  in  those  old  days,  grouped  in  the  porch,  before  or 
after  service,  and  standing  still  awhile  to  look  down  the 
slope  of  the  green  fields,  and  through  the  trees,  towards  the 
beautiful  stream  which  rolled  its  waters  to  the  bay.  How 
often,  of  a  still  afternoon  on  the  Christian  Sabbath,  when  the 
day  was  declining,  and  when  the  skies  were  glowing  above 
the  Jersey  hills  with  the  golden  light  of  sunset,  may  the 


42 

devout  worshipper,  in  passing  forth  from  the  church,  have 
looked  upon  that  fair  appearance  of  gardens  and  groves,  of 
river  and  distant  mountain,  perhaps  with  a  kindling  fervor 
of  soul  and  a  deeper  realization  of  the  truth  that  "  there  re 
in  aineth  a  rest  to  the  people  of  GOD,"  or  perhaps  with  the 
melody  of  some  old  hymn  floating  through  the  spirit : 

"  Sweet  fields  beyond  the  swelling  flood 
Stand  dressed  in  living  green  !" 

How  hard  it  is  for  us  to  form  a  correct  idea  of  the  ancient 
aspect  of  these  places  !  King's  College,  erected  in  1756,  a 
little  to  the  north  and  west  of  this  spot,  on  the  block  now 
bounded  by  Murray  and  Church  Streets,  and  College  and 
Park  Places,  was  then  quite  out  of  town  :  it  is  described  by 
an  English  traveller  of  the  period,  as  pleasantly  situated  near 
the  City  of  New  York  on  the  banks  of  Hudson's  River.* 
So  stood  the  new  church,  beyond  the  city  limits,  away  off  in 
the  fields,f  surrounded  by  groves  and  orchards,  and  hard  by 
the  broad,  bright  river ;  an  object  of  surprise  to  the  good 
burghers,  who  scrupled  not  to  comment  with  just  severity  on 
the  folly  of  that  visionary  set  of  men,  the  Yestry  of  Trinity 
Church,  who  had  put  so  large  and  ornate  a  building  in  a 
place  so  remote  and  sequestered,  so  difficult  of  access,  and  to 
which  the  population  could  never  extend  ! 

I  have  before  me  the  original  plans  of  the  church :  from 
them  it  appears,  that  the  portico  at  the  eastern  end  formed 
a  part  of  the  design ;  although  this,  has  been,  occasionally, 
denied.  And  this  may,  perhaps,  be  the  fittest  point  at  which 
to  introduce  the  following  carefully  prepared  table  of  dates  ; 
it  gives,  at  a  glance,  the  chronology  of  the  edifice. 

Nov.  3,  1763,  order  given  for  building  St.  Paul's  Chapel. 

May  14,  1764,  corner-stone  laid. 

Oct.  30,  1766,  first  service  held ;  it  being  partially  com 
pleted. 
_ 

*  See  note  C,  at  the  end. 

f  A  friend  writes  thus:  "The  late  Mr.  Robert  Morris,  of  Fordham,  West- 
chester,  told  me  he  recollected  walking  into  the  country  with  my  great  grand 
father  from  Queen  Street,  now  Pearl  Street,  to  see  St.  Paul's  Church." 


43 

March  9,  1767,  order  given  for  carrying  on  the  building. 

Sept.  28,  1767,  order  given  for  finishing  the  Portico  and 
fences. 

May  14,  1781,  churchyard  ordered  to  be  enclosed  with  a 
ditch  and  temporary  fence. 

May  13,  1793,  report  in  favor  of  building  a  steeple  at  the 
K  W.  end. 

March  24,  1794,  ordered  that  the  steeple  be  built,  after  a 
plan  designed  by  Lawrence,  and  then  approved. 

June  24,  1794,  ordered  that  stoves  be  put  in  St.  George's 
and  St.  Paul's  Chapels. 

April  11,  1796,  a  clock  and  bell  ordered. 

Feb.  13,  1797,  a  new  roof  to  be  put  on. 

July  22,  1800,  an  organ  ordered  from  England. 

Dec.  ]  3,  1802,  chandeliers  ordered  for  the  better  lighting 
of  the  church. 

May  10,  1804,  a  brick  wall  ordered  to  be  built  around  the 
churchyard. 

There  was,  at  first,  no  entrance  to  the  galleries  eastward  ; 
but  it  appears  that  there  was  at  the  end  of  each  gallery  a 
room,  communicating  with  it  by  a  door.  The  room  at  the 
eastern  end  of  the  north  gallery,  although  no  longer  in  ex 
istence,  deserves  mention  on  account  of  its  historical  import 
ance.  It  was  known  as  the  "  Library  Room ;"  and  was  so 
called,  because  certain  books  were  kept  there,  which  had 
been  sent  over,  from  time  to  time,  by  Bishops  of  London  and 
by  the  Society  for  the  Promotion  of  Religion  and  Learning, 
as  gifts  to  the  parish  of  Trinity  Church.  When  the  Revolu 
tionary  troubles  began,  other  books  belonging  to  King's  (now 
Columbia)  College,  were  taken  to  St.  Paul's  for  safe-keeping 
and  placed  in  the  "  Library  Room,"  and  subsequently,  for 
the  greater  security  of  its  contents,  the  room  was  stoned  up, 
so  that  access  to  it  by  the  door  was  cut  off.  Such,  at  least, 
is  the  tradition ;  and  what  makes  it  seem  authentic  is  the 
fact  that  similar  precautions  were  elsewhere  taken  for  the 
preservation  of  property.  I  find,  in  the  Vestry  Minutes  of 
April  11,  1780,  an  Order,  that  the  Committee  appointed  for 
leasing  the  Church  lands  have  power  to  employ  proper  per 
sons  to  close  up  the  doors  and  windows  of  the  Parsonage  and 


44 

School-house,  and  also  of  Trinity  Church,  to  prevent  the 
materials  from  being  taken  away.  It  mast  have  been  at  or 
about  that  time  that  the  Library  Room  was  secured,  as  above 
described.  The  story  goes,  and  several  living  witnesses  con 
cur  in  vouching  for  its  truth,  that  many  years  had  elapsed 
before  the  room  was  reopened,  that  the  existence  of  the  books 
had  in  the  mean  time  been  forgotten,  and  that  their  reappear 
ance  was  the  occasion  of  an  agreeable  surprise.  However 
that  may  be,  it  is  certain  that  the  volumes  were  subsequently 
used  by  candidates  for  orders,  and  students  of  theology,  and 
that,  when  the  General  Theological  Seminary  was  erected  in 
Chelsea,  they  were  removed  to  the  Library  of  that  Institu 
tion,  where  they  may  be  seen  to  this  day. 

And  now  I  have  to  mention  the  great  glory  and  honor 
of  that  ancient  "  Library  Room."  In  it,  the  General  Theo 
logical  Seminary  was  born ;  or  there,  at  least,  the  first  child 
ren  were  nurtured,  and  thence  were  they  sent  forth.  The  Rev. 
Samuel  H.  Turner,  D.  D.,  late  Professor  of  Biblical  Litera 
ture  in  the  Seminary,  in  a  letter  dated  June  23,  1860,  and 
addressed  to  the  Trustees  of  that  institution,  on  the  occasion 
of  the  report  of  a  Special  Committee  on  the  removal  of  the 
Seminary,  writes  as  follows : 

"  I  venture  also  to  remark  on  another  statement  made  in  the  same 
report  in  relation  to  the  early  history  of  the  Seminary.  Having  heen 
connected  with  it  ever  since  its  institution,  and  practically  for  more  than 
forty-one  years,  I  may  be  presumed  to  know  the  correctness  of  what  I 
am  about  to  say. 

"  The  Committee  make  the  following  statement :  '  The  first  seat  of 
the  Seminary  was  in  the  third  story  of  a  building  in  Fulton  Street, 
opposite  St.  Paul's,  afterwards  removed  to  the  upper  room  in  the  rear 
of  St.  Paul's,  corner  of  Vesey  and  Church  Streets.'  If  the  Seminary 
"  ever  had  4  a  seat'  in  Fulton  Street,  it  must  have  been  some  time  between 
October,  1818,  and  May,  1819,  and  solely  under  the  instruction  of  Dr. 
Jarvis.  I  entered  upon  rny  duties  the  first  of  May  in  the  latter  year, 
from  which  time  its  localities  were  elsewhere.  The  original  class  was 
then  limited  to  six.  I  have  inquired  of  the  four  surviving  members, 
not  one  of  whom  knows  any  thing  of  '  a  seat  in  Fulton  Street.'  I  have 
been  told  by  one,  that  Dr.  Jarvis  began  his  course  of  instruction  one 
month  before  I  did  ;  and  by  another,  a  resident  then  of  this  city,  that 
he  met  the  class  in  the  vestry-room  of  Trinity  Church.  The  removal 
afterward  mentioned,  to  an  '  upper  room  in  the  rear  of  St.  Paul's,  cor- 


45 

ner  of  Vesey  and  Church  Streets,1  must  be  a  mistake.  I  feel  very  con 
fident  that  there  was  no  building  then  at  that  corner  but  a  small  one- 
story  engine-house.  This  I  know,  that,  from  the  beginning  of  May,  1819, 
to  the  end  of  the  term,  and  from  the  commencement  of  the  next  term 
after  the  summer  vacation,  until  the  weather  became  cold,  Dr.  Jarvis 
and  myself  met  the  class  in  a  small  apartment  directly  over  the  vestry- 
room  of  St.  Paul's,  at  the  northeast  corner  of  the  church."  [This  was 
the  "Library  Room;"  and  there  the  first  class  of  the  Seminary  received, 
its  early  instructions  from  those  good  and  learned  men,  Jarvis  and 
Turner,  whose  names  will  be  ever  held  in  honor  among  us.  I  add  what 
follows,  for  its  interest,  although  it  does  not  bear  upon  our  subject.] 
"  Thence  we  removed  to  St.  John's,  where  we  had  a  fire.  Some  time  in 
the  winter,  we  availed  ourselves  of  the  offer  of  one  of  the  kindest  and 
best  members  of  the  class,  to  use,  in  the  afternoon,  a  school-room  at 
the  northwest  corner  of  Broadway  and  Cedar  Street,  on  the  second 
floor,  where  in  the  morning  he  taught  a  young  ladies'  academy.  While 
we  were  dependent  for  accommodation  on  this  gentleman,  who  is  now 
a  highly  esteemed  presbyter  in  the  Diocese  of  Ohio,  the  Seminary  was 
removed  to  New  Haven.  On  its  subsequent  reorganization  in  New 
York,  the  classes  were  met  occasionally  in  St.  John's  Church,  afterwards 
at  the  corner  of  Varick  and  Canal  Streets,  arid  lastly  at  the  present 
library  room  in  the  Seminary,  until  the  west  building  was  erected." 
(Proceedings  Gen.  Theol.  Seminary,  Board  of  Trustees,  1860,  page  356.) 

In  the  letter  from  which  I  have  given  this  extract,  Dr. 
Turner  describes  the  Library  Room  as  being  at  the  north 
east  corner  of  the  church,  directly  over  the  Vestry-room. 
This  is  strictly  correct,  for  the  robing-room  used  to  be  at  that 
end  of  the  north  aisle ;  it  was  little  more  than  a  narrow 
closet,  lighted  by  the  easternmost  window  on  the  north.  At  a 
subsequent  period,  alterations  were  made ;  staircases  were 
introduced  adjacent  to  the  Broadway  doors,  and  the  rooms 
above  became  mere  vestibules  or  landing-places,  by  which 
the  galleries  could  be  entered  from  their  eastern  ends.  The 
robing-room  was  then  removed  to  the  southwest  corner  of 
the  church,  where  it  is  at  present ;  a  staircase  which  for 
merly  stood  there  and  gave  access  to  the  south  gallery  was 
removed,  and  two  rooms,  one  above  and  the  other  below, 
were  thus  gained  in  place  of  those  which  were  sacrificed  at 
the  other  end  of  the  church.  But  alas!  for  the  change. 
Ever  since  that  time,  the  clergy  who  officiate  here,  must 
make  perforce  a  long  perambulation,  and  literally  "  walk 
about  Zion  "  on  their  way  to  and  from  the  chancel,  much  to 


46 

their  own  inconvenience  and  embarrassment,  and  greatly  to 
the  astonishment  of  persons  unaccustomed  to  the  ways  of 
the  place.  Surely  our  fathers  never  intended  this,  nor 
thought  of  the  penance  which  they  were  imposing  on  the 
timid  and  nervous — if  any  such  there  be — among  their  de 
scendants. 

The  chancel  remains  as  it  was  of  old,  the  fitting  place  of 
rest  for  our  large  and  stately  altar,  one  of  the  best  and  grand 
est  in  the  city ;  built  at  a  time  when  queasy  maunderings 
about  "  tables  with  legs  "  were  yet  unheard.  The  east  win 
dow  was  originally  of  plain  glass,  and  shaded  with  curtains ; 
it  has  since  been  replaced  in  colors.  And  this  brings  to  the 
mind  the  history  of  that  marvellous  altar-piece,  by  which  the 
stranger's  eye  is  instantly  caught,  and  at  which  we,  who  are 
so  well  accustomed  to  it,  still  gaze  with  wonder  as  upon  an 
object  endowed  with  the  power  of  steady  fascination.  I  have 
spoken  already  of  the  death  of  Major-General  Montgomery. 
In  the  year  ITS 7,  the  Corporation  of  the  City  of  New  York 
asked  leave  of  the  Vestry  of  Trinity  Church  to  erect  in 
front  of  the  great  window  of  St.  Paul's,  a  monument  to 
his  memory.  Permission  having  been  granted  at  a  meeting 
held  May  23d,  in  that  year,  the  work  was  commenced  and 
speedily  completed.  But  since  the  new  monument,  standing 
against  the  window  on  the  outside,  and  showing  through, 
formed  an  unsightly  object  from  within,  the  services  of  Col. 
L'Enfant  were  in  request,  to  design  something  which  might 
at  once  conceal  the  back  of  the  structure  and  form  a  decora 
tion  for  the  chancel.  A  plan  submitted  by  him  was,  on  the 
18th  of  June,  accepted,  and  the  order  was  given  for  its  exe 
cution.  Such  is  the  history  of  our  wondrous  altar-piece ; 
intended,  as  it  seems,  to  symbolize,  if  not  to  represent,  the 
giving  of  the  law  on  Mount  Sinai,  it  is  perhaps  as  inappro 
priate  as  any  thing  that  could  have  been  invented  to  nil  its 
present  place ;  and  yet  I  trust  that  the  thought  of  removing 
so  quaint  and  curious  an  object  would  meet  with  no  tolera 
tion  among  us. 

From  the  ceiling  of  the  nave,  and  beneath  the  galleries, 
there  once  hung  glass  chandeliers,  of  curious  workmanship ; 
their  only  surviving  representative  now  serves  as  a  Corona  in 


47 

the  chancel.  They  were  placed  in  the  church  A.  D.  1802, 
and  removed  in  1856,  when,  for  the  first  time,  the  gas-fitter 
invaded  this  old  and  classic  scene.  He  plied,  unmolested, 
his  "  dreadful  trade/'  and  the  gas  was  first  lighted  on  the 
second  Sunday  after  Christmas,  January  4,  1857. 

But  if  we  mourn  our  beloved  chandeliers,  in  what  terms 
shall  we  duly  express  our  feelings  as  we  think  of  those 
greater  curiosities,  of  which  not  even  a  true  representation 
is  left,  the  President's  and  Governor's  pews !  It  appears 
from  the  old  ground-plan,  a  copy  of  which  is  here  introduced, 
that  the  chapel  had  originally  a  north  and  a  south  door ; 
these  doors  have  long  ago  been  filled  up,  but  on  the  outside 
of  the  church  their  places  can  still  be  traced.  It  would  fur 
ther  appear,  that  the  north  door  must  have  been  stoned  up 
first,  and  that  in  its  place  there  was  made  a  canopied  pew, 
elevated  above  the  level  of  the  pavement,  and  appropriately 
decorated  and  fitted  up  for  his  Britannic  Majesty's  represent 
ative  and  viceroy,  the  Governor  of  the  province.  The  pro 
babilities  are  that  this  was  done  after  the  destruction  of 
Trinity  Church,  in  1776,  when  St.  Paul's  became  the  principal 
church  of  the  city.  After  the  Eevolutionary  "War,  this  pew 
was  occupied,  no  doubt,  by  General  Washington,  on  the 
occasions  of  his  visiting  the  church.  But,  as  it  was  found 
inconvenient  to  have  only  one  pew  for  the  heads  of  the  State 
and  National  governments,  the  Yestry  took  order  for  the 
preparation  of  a  second  pew,  similar  to  the  first  and  opposite 
to  it.  In  their  Minutes,  May  13,  1785,  the  following  record 
appears : 

"  Resolved,  That  the  Committee  of  Kepairs  and  Pews  be 
directed  to  view  the  south  door  of  Saint  Paul's  Chappell  and 
report  the  practicability  of  shutting  up  the  same  and  making 
in  lieu  thereof  a  large  elevated  Pew  with  two  smaller  ones 
on  each  side  similar  to  the  Governor's  and  the  two  pews 
adjoining,  so  as  to  make  both  sides  of  the  church  uniform." 

The  south  door,  accordingly,  disappeared,  and  a  second  can 
opied  pew  took  its  place ;  and  thus  the  chapel  was  provided 
with  a  President's  and  a  Governor's  pew.  The  canopies  were 
supported  by  slender  shafts  similar  to  those  under  the  organ 
gallery ;  and  beneath  them  were  hung  the  emblazoned  arms 


48 

of  the  United  States  and  of  the  State  of  New  York.  Al 
though  no  vestige  of  the  pews  can  now  be  found,  the  old 
heraldic  pictures  have  been  preserved ;  they  survived  the 
destruction  which,  at  some  dreary  day  of  modernizing  and 
miscalled  improvement,  overtook  the  old  seats  of  state  ;  and 
were  consigned  to  an  obscurity  which  had  this  only  advan 
tage,  that  it  kept  them  safe.  At  length,  emerging  from  their 
concealment,  they  were  hung  up  in  the  front  lobbies,  where 
for  a  long  time  they  remained,  until,  some  ten  years  ago,  they 
were  reinstated,  as  nearly  as  could  be  determined,  in  their 
old  positions,  where  you  see  them  now.  It  has  been  strenu 
ously  disputed  whether  the  President's  pew  was  on  the  north 
side  or  on  the  south.  The  facts  which  I  have  gathered  seem 
to  show  that  he  sat,  at  different  times,  on  each  side  of  the 
church  ;  on  the  north  side,  in  the  place  of  the  Royal  Gov 
ernor,  until  the  new  place  was  provided,  and  then,  for  a  short 
time,  on  the  south  ;  because,  after  the  rebuilding  of  Trinity 
Church,  it  does  not  appear  that  he  ever  again  attended  St. 
Paul's.  Yonder  then  is  the  place  where  Washington  sat, 
with  his  wife,  "  Lady  Washington,"  as  she  was  called.  There 
came  to  this  church,  some  three  or  four  years  ago,  an  aged 
man,  who  talked  to  me  at  great  length  of  those  old  times. 
He  said,  that  when  a  boy,  he  used  to  sit  with  the  school-boy 
tribe  of  that  period,  in  the  north  gallery  ;  and  that  the  Gen 
eral  and  "  Lady  Washington ''  were  wont  to  drive  up  Fair 
Street  to  church,  on  Sundays,  in  a  coach  and  four ;  and  that 
it  was  a  never-failing  delight  to  him  and  his  comrades  to 
watch  them  in  the  canopied  pew  below ;  nay,  he  said  that  he 
thought  it  a  scene  impressive  beyond  all  others  in  this  world, 
when  they  were  there  with  all  their  state  about  them,  while 
the  dignified,  elegant,  and  portly  Provoost,  first  Bishop  of 
New  York,  held  forth  in  this  pulpit  as  the  preacher.  But 
time  has  changed  all  this.  Where  now,  throughout  the  land, 
are  their  own  places  set  apart  in  church  for  the  rulers  of  the 
people  ?  And  where  is  the  reverence  that  formerly  sur 
rounded  their  persons  ? 

As  an  interesting  and  valuable  contribution  to  this  portion 
of  my  subject,  I  insert  the  following  communication  from 
the  Rev.  John  Brown,  D.  D.,  the  venerable  Rector  of  Saint 


49 

George's  Church,  Newburgh,  who,  in  reply  to  a  letter  written 
at  my  request  by  the  Rev.  Frederick  B.  Yan  Kleeck,  sent 
what  follows : 

NEWBUBGII,  Sept.  5th,  1866. 
REV.  AND  DEAR  SIR  : — 

I  have  received  your  note,  making  inquiry  concerning  the  pew  occu 
pied  by  Gen.  Washington  in  St.  Paul's  Chapel.  There  was  formerly  in 
that  chapel  a  large  square  pew  in  the  north  aisle,  adjoining  the  North 
Wall,  called  the  President's  Pew.  Over  this  pew  was  a  canopy  sup 
ported  by  suitable  columns.  Against  the  wall  was  a  painting  in  hand 
some  frame  representing  the  spread  eagle  with  shield,  being  the  coat  of 
arms  of  the  United  States.  Immediately  opposite,  on  the  south  side, 
was  a  corresponding  pew,  with  the  coat  of  arms  of  the  State  of  New 
York.  This  pew  was  called  the  Governor's  Pew.  Whilst  I  was  acting 
as  Librarian  to  the  Society  for  the  Promotion  of  the  Gospel,  these  paint 
ings  were  removed,  and  at  my  solicitation  were  placed  in  the  Library 
Room,  which  was  then  over  the  north  front  door.  When  I  left  the 
city  for  a  residence  in  the  country  these  paintings  were  in  the  Chapel, 
and  I  suppose  are  there  still.  The  President's  Pew  was  without  a  doubt 
On  the  north  side.  Of  this  fact  I  am  positive. 

When  Gen.  Washington  died  I  was  not  yet  10  years  old,  and  do  not 
remember  to  have  seen  him  occupy  the  pew.  But  I  remember  to  have 
seen  him  and  Lady  Washington  enter  the  Chapel  by  the  north  door 
which  led  to  the  President's  Pew. 

Major  Popharn  was  asked  during  his  life  if  he  remembered  seeing 
Gen.  Washington  receive  the  Holy  Communion.  His  answer  was  that 
he  sat  in  the  north  aisle  near  the  President's  Pew,  and  that  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Washington  remained  among  the  Communicants,  and  that  he  be 
lieved  without 'a  doubt  that  they  both  received  the  Holy  Communion. 

When  St.  Paul's  Chapel  was  first  erected,  there  was  a  door  on  the 
north  and  south  sides.  These  doors,  after  the  Revolution,  were  closed, 
and  the  President's  and  Governor's  Pews  took  their  place.  Subse 
quently,  when  the  pews  of  state  were  removed,  the  doors  were  stoned 
up  and  windows  took  their  place.  They  are  about  the  centre  windows 
on  each  side. 

Very  respectfully  yours, 

Rev.  F.  B.  VAK  KLEECK.  Jonx  BROWN. 

Let  me  next  proceed  to  speak  of  the  organ.  It  is  ancient, 
like  the  church,  and  has  seen  its  vicissitudes.  At  a  meeting 
of  the  Yestry,  held  July  8,  1799,  a  petition  was  read  from 
sundry  members  of  S.  Paul's  Chapel,  requesting  an  organ  for 
the  said  church  ;  whereupon,  a  special  committee  was  ap- 


50 

pointed  to  ascertain  the  expense  of  providing  organs  for  S. 
George's  and  S.  Paul's,  and  meanwhile  the  further  consider 
ation  of  the  petition  was  deferred.  On  the  22d  of  July, 
1800,  authority  was  given  to  the  committee  to  furnish,  from 
Great  Britain,  organs  for  each  of  those  chapels ;  and  on  the 
12th  January,  1801,  the  committee  on  leases  was  empowered 
to  raise  funds,  by  the  sale  of  lots  or  otherwise,  for  the  pay 
ment  of  the  organs  to  be  procured  as  aforesaid.  Some  time 
between  this  latter  date  and  the  end  of  the  year  1802  the 
instruments  must  have  arrived.  They  were  made  in  London, 
by  Mr.  E.  P.  English.  I  find,  that  on  the  13th  of  January, 
1803,  the  organ  committee  was  instructed  to  consider  the 
propriety  of  placing  ornaments  on  the  organ !  And  that  on 
the  10th  of  February  following  they  reported  adversely ! 
What  was  it  proposed  to  do  ?  Was  the  organ  to  have  been 
surmounted  with  figures  of  angels  sturdily  blowing  through 
gilt  trumpets  ?  or  what  were  the  devices  which  were  in  con 
templation  by  the  over-sanguine  progressives  of  the  day  ? 

Mr.  Kausch  was  appointed,  Dec.  13, 1802,  to  perform  upon 
this  unornamented  organ,  while  Mr.  Jackson  was  at  the  same 
time'  appointed  at  S.  George's  Chapel.  The  organists  have 
been,  Messrs.  Kausch,  Thos.  Brown,  W.  Blondell,  S.  P.  Tay 
lor,  Ed.  Hodges,  Mus.  Doc.,  Wm.  H.  Walter,  Mus.  Doc.,  and 
M.  K.  Erben.  About  twenty  years  ago  this  instrument  was 
furnished  with  pedals ;  two  years  ago  it  was  not  only  renovated 
throughout,  but  still  further  enlarged  and  improved  by  the 
addition  of  a  swell.  And  now,  in  its  richness,  clearness,  and 
brilliancy  of  tone,  it  ranks  among  the  most  delightful  and 
effective  organs  in  the  country :  differing  very  much  from 
those  of  modern  construction,  it  impresses  the  intelligent 
listener  the  more  by  qualities  peculiar  to  itself. 

From  the  church  the  transition  is  not  unnatural  to  the 
churchyard ;  thither  let  us  betake  ourselves ;  a  few  words 
will  not  be  out  of  place  concerning  that  sacred  and  invio 
lable  spot.  It  contains  not  merely  the  bones  and  relics  of 
great  numbers  of  the  departed,  but  also  many  monuments 
and  headstones  of  more  than  common  interest.  High  above 
all  rises  the  obelisk  sacred  to  the  memory  of  Thomas  Addis 
Emmet,  bearing  on  its  panelled  base  a  memorandum  of  the 


51 

latitude  and  longitude  of  the  point  on  the  earth's  surface  on 
which  it  stands  (40°  42'  40"  1ST.,  74°  03'  21"  5  W.  L.  G.),  and 
exhibiting  on  the  north  face  a  long  inscription  in  Latin 
which  few  have  had  the  patience  to  decipher.  Close  by  it 
is  a  modest  stone,  lately  restored  by  the  Vestry  with  a  rev 
erent  care  which  does  them  honor;  it  marks  the  grave  of 
Philip  Blum,  Sailing  Master  of  the  "  Saratoga,"  the  Flagship 
of  the  gallant  McDonough,  who  fought  and  won  the  battle 
of  Lake  Champlain.  Nearly  half  way  between  the  western 
porch  and  the  school-house,  beside  the  churchyard  path, 
may  be  seen,  enclosed  by  an  iron  railing,  the  monument- 
erected  by  Edmund  Kean  to  the  memory  of  that  renowned 
actor,  Geo.  Frederic  Cooke  ;  and  somewhat  to  the  south  and 
west  of  it  there  stands  a  lofty  tomb,  bearing  the  name  of  a 
French  soldier,  E.  M.  Bechet,  Sieur  de  Rochefontaine ;  he 
served  in  the  War  of  Independence  with  the  Count  de 
Rochambeau  in  1782,  was  appointed  Adj.-Gen.  of  the  French 
army  in  Saint  Domingo,  A.  D.  1792,  and  afterwards  entered 
and  died  in  the  service  of  the  United  States  of  America. 
This  monument  has  also  been  in  part  restored,  and  since  it 
has  an  historic  interest,  I  add  to  this  mention  of  it,  copies  of 
the  inscriptions  on  its  several  faces : 

On  the  West  Face. 

CI  GIT 

Etienne  Marie  Bechet 
Sieur  de  ROCHEFONTAINE, 

Ne  Tan  1755, 
Dans  le  Canton  d'Ay 

en  Champagne, 
Departement  de  la  Marne, 

Et  decede 

Le  30  Janvier  1814 

a  NEW  YORK. 


Que  son  ame  repose 
Dans  1'inalterable  paix 
Du  sejour  cternel. 


52 


On  the  South  Face. 

E.  M.  Bechet 

SIEUR  DE  ROCHEFONTAINE, 
Se  voua  a  la  carriere  des  armes, 

Et  s'y  distingua  long  terns. 
II  fit,  sous  le  Comte  de  ROCHAMBEAU, 

La  campagne  d'Amerique, 
Glorieusement  terminee  en  1782, 
Par  la  prise  du  Lord  CORNWALLIS, 

Qui  mit  fin  a  cette  guerre. 
Louis  XVI.  le  nomma  en  1792 

ADJUTANT-GENERAL 
De  1'armee  de  Saint  Domingue, 

Et  apres  la  mort  du  Roi, 
II  entra  Col.  au  service  des  Etats  Unis. 

Enfin  il  se  retira  en  1798, 

Pour  jouir  au  sein  de  1'amitie, 

D'une  consideration  justement  acquise, 

Et  d'un  repos  dignement  merite. 

On  the  North  Face. 

CE  TOMBEAU 

Qu'a  fait  eriger 

Made.  CATHERINE  GENTIL 

A  LA  MEMOIRE 

D'un  digne  et  vertueux  P£RE, 
N'est  point  1'orgueilleux  ouvrage 

D'une  vanite  mondaine, 
Oest  nn  Monument  consacre 

PAR  LA   PlETfi  FlLtALE. 

Puissent  les  vceux  d'une  pieuse  Fille 
S'elever  jusqu'au  trone 

Du  tout-puissant, 
Et  attirer  la  misericorde  divine 

Sur  le  respectable  objet 
De  ses  douloureux  regrets. 

On  the  East  Face. 

O  vous  qui  visitez  dans  un  saint  recueillement 
•   Ce  silencieux  asile 


53 

DES  MORTS 

Joignez  vos  voeux 

A  ceux  d'une  pieuse  Fille, 

Et  priez  avec  elle 
Pour  le  repos  de  Fame 

de  Feu 

Mr.  E.  M.  BECHET, 
Sieur  de  ROCHEFONTAINE. 

Inside  the  church  there  are  many  tablets,  of  more  or  less 
interest.  Six  of  these  are  inserted  in  the  walls  of  the  chan 
cel,  bearing  the  names,  respectively,  of  Colonel  Thomas  Bar 
clay,  son  of  the  Rev.  Henry  Barclay,  D.  D.,  and  some  time 
British  Consul  at  New  York ;  of  Margaret,  wife  of  the  Rev. 
Charles  Inglis,  D.  D.,  some  time  Rector  of  Trinity  Church 
and  Bishop  of  Nova  Scotia ;  and  of  Sir  John  Temple,  Bart. 
These  tablets  are  on  the  north  side  of  the  chancel,  and  have 
the  arms  of  the  respective  families  emblazoned  on  them  in 
colors.  On  the  opposite  wall  are  the  tablets,  similarly  deco 
rated,  of  Anthony  Yan  Dam,  son  of  the  Hon.  Rip  Yan 
Dam  ;  of  Elizabeth  Franklin,  wife  of  his  Excellency  William 
Franklin ;  and  of  a  lady  named  Eleonora  Hugget,  whose  quali 
ties  and  character  are  thus  celebrated : 

"  Sub  hoc  Marmore  positas  sunt  exuvias 
Eleonoras,  uxoris  Sigismundi  Hugget 

De  Nova  Eboracensi  Armigeri, 

Natae  Lincolniensi  urbis  Magnas  Britannias : 

Cujus  si  indefessam  in  Deum  pietatem, 

Immotam  in  amicos  fidem, 

Amorem  ad  maritum  illibatum, 

Si  in  a2quales  comitatem, 

In  egenos  liberalitatem, 

In  omnes  spectes  benevolentiam, 

Vix  hasc  aetas  parem  habuit, 

Superiorem  nulla. 
Obiit  III.  Men.  Decem.  MDCCXCV.  ^Etatis  LVII." 

Of  all  the  monuments  within  the  church,  the  loftiest  and 
most  conspicuous  is  that  erected  to  the  memory  of  John 


54 

Wells  ;  it  stands  at  the  west  end,  and  has  a  long  inscription*, 
and  a  bust  of  that  eminent  jurist  and  counsellor. 

But  in  speaking  of  the  monumental  stones  in  or  about 
S.  Paul's,  I  must  not  omit  to  mention  that  one  which  is 
apparently  the  oldest  of  them  all,  or  rather  the  oldest  in  the 
country,  or  even  in  this  hemisphere.  It  bears  date  A.  D. 
1084,  and  has  been  visited  by  multitudes  who  were  curious 
to  see  so  remarkable  an  object.  "What  other  churchyard  in 
the  land  can  boast  a  stone  nearly  coeval  with  the  Norman 
Conquest  ?  It  may  be  found  on  the  north  side  of  the  ground, 
about  three-quarters  of  the  way  westward  from  the  front  line 
of  the  porch,  and  very  near  the  railing.  "  Siste  Viator," 
may  we  exclaim  ;  pass  not  by,  till  you  have  seen  what  you 
never  saw  before,  and  perhaps  may  never  see  again.* 

In  the  memorandum  of  dates  given  some  pages  back,  it  is 
shown  that  the  burial-ground,  originally  an  open  plot,  was, 
in  1781,  enclosed  with  a  ditch  and  temporary  fence,  and  that 
in  1804  it  was  better  protected  by  a  low  brick  wall ;  the  iron 
railing  which  now  surrounds  it  is  of  comparatively  recent 
date.  Long  ago,  the  cattle  used  to  stray  into  the  church 
yard,  and  browse  among  the  monuments ;  nay.  there  is  an 
old  tradition,  that  once  upon  a  time,  while  Divine  service 
was  going  on,  perhaps  of  a  warm  and  pleasant  summer's 
afternoon,  a  horse  came  into  church  and  walked  some  dis 
tance  up  the  middle  aisle.  In  his  rambles,  he  had  strayed 
into  the  churchyard;  his  attention  had  then  been  turned  to 
the  shady  porch  and  open  door ;  and,  meeting  with  no  dis 
couragement  from  sexton,  churchwarden,  or  similar  official, 
he  had  proceeded  on  his  tour  of  investigation,  and  thus  had 
made  his  appearance  among  the  worshippers,  to  their  ex 
treme  surprise,  and  to  his  ultimate  discomtiture.f 


*  It  is  true  that  there  are  some  who  surmise,  if  they  do  not  actually  allege, 
that  the  stone  is  not  so  old  as  it  seems  to  be,  and  who  have  invented  the  theory 
that  the  stonecutter  has  transposed  an  8  and  an  0  ;  but  these  are  the  captious 
objections  of  that  school  which  delights  in  finding  solutions  for  every  thing  mys 
terious,  and  in  whose  eyes  the  most  venerable  things  are  often  held  cheap,  and 
treated  with  unseemly  freedom. 

f  A  lady  present  at  the  delivery  of  this  lecture,  assured  me  afterwards  that 
this  incident  was  true,  and  that  she  knew,  personally,  that  the  horse  did  so 


55 

I  have  spoken  already  of  a  narrow  escape  of  the  chapel 
from  destruction  by  fire  in  the  year  1776.  It  was  in  similar 
peril  in  1799  ;  the  fire  was  in  Vesey  Street,  and  the  steeple 
was  actually  in  flames.  It  appears  that  on  this  occasion  sev 
eral  persons  rendered  important  aid,  for  the  Vestry  appro 
priated  $150  to  be  distributed  to  the  most  active  in  putting 
out  the  fire  (Minutes,  vol.  i.,  April  22,  1799).  Two  years 
afterwards  (March  9,  1801),  we  find  a  claim  put  in  by  one 
John  White,  who  thought  that  he  deserved  compensation  for 
services  rendered,  and  up  to  that  time  unrewarded,  and 
accordingly  the  Yestry  made  him  a  grant  of  $30  for  what  he 
did,  a  sum  which  fell  $20  short  of  that  which  he  had  named 
as,  in  his  judgment,  not  beyond  his  deserts.  Other  fires,  en 
dangering  the  church,  occurred  in  1820  and  in  1848,  when, 
for  the  first  and  second  times,  the  Park  Theatre  was  burnt. 
But  never,  perhaps,  did  S.  Paul's  go  through  a  more  trying 
ordeal  than  on  the  13th  July,  1865.  On  that  well  remem 
bered  day,  about  half  an  hour  after  noon,  a  fire  broke  out  in 
Ann  Street,  which  very  soon  extended  to  the  American 
Museum.  That  immense  building,  little  more  than  a  gigan 
tic  packing-box  of  light  inflammable  stuff,  was,  in  an  incred 
ibly  short  space  of  time,  a  mass  of  living  fire.  It  hap 
pened  that  I  was  on  the  spot,  and  saw  the  beginning  of  the 
conflagration.  Going  to  the  portico  on  Broadway  to  observe 
the  progress  of  events,  I  remained  there  until  we  were  driven 
out  by  the  intolerable  heat ;  and  as  it  became  evident  that 
the  church  was  in  imminent  danger,  I  ascended  to  the  roof, 
with  several  persons,  and  remained  there  until  half-past  four 
in  the  afternoon.  Those  were  hours  of  intense  anxiety  ;  but 
under  Divine  protection  the  peril  was  again  averted,  and  the 
church,  though  badly  scorched  and  defaced,  was  saved.  To 
this  happy  result  two  causes  mainly  contributed.  The  wind, 
when  the  fire  broke  out,  was  so  light,  that  the  smoke  ascended 

enter  as  described.  She  writes  thus :  "  In.  my  childhood  I  frequently  heard 
ray  great  aunts  (the  Misses  Ludlow)  relate  the  tale  of  the  horse  walking  up  the 
aisle  of  St.  Paul's  Church,  during  the  service,  to  say  his  prayers.  They  said 
there  were  no  fences  round  the  churchyard  in  those  days,  and  they  looked 
upon  it  as  a  walk  into  the  country  from  their  house  in  Hanover  Square,  which 
was  a  part  of  Queen  Street,  now  called  Pearl." 


56 

almost  in  vertical  column  to  the  sky ;  soon,  however,  the 
breeze  freshened,  but  in  doing  so  it  shifted  some  six  or  seven 
points  until  it  came  out  from  the  !N".  "W.  Had  it  blown  from 
S.  or  E.,  no  human  exertions  could  have  saved  the  church. 
But,  2dly,  I  must  mention  the  efforts  of  the  generous  and 
devoted  firemen,  and  others,  as  contributing  to  our  escape. 
Then  for  the  first  time  did  I  realize  how  strong  a  hold  this 
venerable  edifice  has  on  the  affections  of  all  classes  of  our 
townsmen  ;  since  I  was  beset  by  volunteers  who  enthusi 
astically  offered  their  services  to  do  any  thing  they  could,  in 
that  emergency ;  their  honest  and  hearty  expressions  cannot 
be  forgotten.  Among  them  was  a  man  who  gave  me  his 
name  as  Captain  de  Rohan,  an  old  officer  of  Garibaldi's 
army.  His  services  were  accepted ;  he  worked  hard  all  day, 
and  kept  watch  all  the  following  night ;  he  would  receive  no 
compensation,  and  scarcely  even  thanks.  And  he  was  but 
one  of  many  whose  services  are  hereby  gratefully  acknow 
ledged 

It  would  no  doubt  be  possible  to  add  considerably  to  the 
reminiscences  of  Saint  Paul's  Chapel ;  and  this  may  yet  be 
done  hereafter  by  some  other  hand.  At  this  point,  however, 
I  shall  bring  my  task  to  a  close ;  a  task  which  has  certainly 
been  fulfilled  con  amore,  if  not  as  well  as  I  could  desire. 
But  enough  has  been  collected  to  show  the  value  and  impor 
tance  of  this  historic  relic,  and  to  invest  it  with  a  deeper 
interest  in  the  eyes  of  our  citizens,  many  of  whom  now  hear, 
for  the  first  time,  the  records  of  its  fame.  If,  however,  it  be 
entitled  to  the  reverence  of  the  antiquary  and  the  lover  of 
ancient  things,  how  should  I  undertake  to  express  those 
deeper  emotions  with  which  it  must  be  regarded  by  the  reli 
gious  mind  ?  Veneration  for  old  things  is  a  quality  too  sel 
dom  found  in  the  characters  of  our  countrymen ;  their  wont 
is,  to  disparage  the  judgment  and  wisdom  of  the  past,  to 
remove  what  reminds  us  of  our  forefathers,  and  to  lay  the 
ancient  landmarks  even  with  the  dust.  When,  therefore, 
men  gather  about  some  one  of  those  bequests  of  the  past 
with  a  view  not  to  demolish,  but  to  protect  it,  when  they 
bestow  some  care  and  pains  (though  but  a  little)  in  keeping 
safe  from  destruction  some  waif  from  the  flood  of  time,  they 


.57 

render,  unless  we  mistake,  a  positive  service  to  their  genera 
tion,  and  help  to  elevate  the  tone  of  the  community.  Such 
an  office  is  ours ;  and  to  it  we  add  another ;  since  our  work  is 
one,  not  merely  of  filial  respect  and  piety,  but  of  Christian 
and  religious  duty.  The  object  which  we  hold  so  dear,  and 
of  which  we  are  keeping  the  100th  birthday,  has  a  double 
sacredness ;  not  that  alone  which  hoary  years  confer,  but 
that  older  and  more  awful  sanctity  imparted,  by  the  Divine 
possession,  to  the  instruments  wherewith  GOD  acts  on  man. 
As  citizens,  and  as  Christians,  therefore,  we  are  doing  that 
which  is  lawful  and  right,  what  is  expedient,  and  also  what 
is  just.  And  may  Almighty  GOD  bless  and  accept  this  ser 
vice  !  Long  may  this  Church  stand  !  GOD  forbid  that  any 
eye  should  witness  its  destruction  or  removal,  though  twice 
or  thrice  a  hundred  years  should  have  rolled  away !  So 
long  as  New  York  shall  stand,  so  long  stand  S.  Paul's, 
beloved  and  cared  for  of  GOD  and  of  man,  wearing  the  palm 
and  honors  of  a  hale  and  green  old  age,  and  of  a  fair  and 
worthy  history,  and  having  around  it  the  daily  growing 
brightness  of  a  divine  and  sacred  light. 


NOTES 


NOTE  A. 

4 

DR.  BERRIAN,  in  his  History  of  Trinity  Church  (page  23),  makes  the  following 
statement  concerning  the  Rev.  Mr.  Vesey : 

"  The  new  Rector  first  performed  divine  service  in  Trinity  Church,  on  the 
Gth  of  February,  1697.'' 

This  is  a  mistake.  Mr.  Vesey  was  not  ordained  until  August  of  that  year, 
and  his  first  service  was  held  March  13,  1698,  as  appears  from  documents  in 
the  Surrogate's  office  in  the  city  of  New  York,  and  from  the  Minutes  of  the 
Vestry.  The  documents  may  be  found  in  the  "  Record  of  Will,  No.  2,  1682  to 
1692,"  pages  100-104,  from  which  I  have  transcribed  them  with  care,  and  here 
present  them  in  full,  as  forming  an  interesting  and  important  item  in  the  history 
of  the  parish. 

"  These  following  papers  were  recorded  at  the  request  of  Mr.  William  Vesey, 
Rector  of  Trinity  Church  in  New  York. 

"TENORE  p'sentium  Nos  HENRICUS  permissione  Divina  LONDINENSIS  EPISCO 
PUS  notum  facimus  universis,  quod  die  secundo  Mensis  augusti  Anno  Dom. 
millesimo  sexcentessimo  nonagesimo  septimo  in  Capella  nostra  intra  pallatium 
nostrum  de  Fulham  Middlesexias,  nos  p'fatus  HENRICUS  LONDINENSIS  EPISCO- 
PUS  antedictus  sacros  ordines  Dei  omnipotentis  p'sidio  celebrantes  :  Dilectum 
Nobis  in  Christo  Grulielmum  Vesey  A.  M.  ex  universitate  Oxofi  de  vita  sua 
Laudabili  ac  morum  et  virtu"  m  suarum  donis  Nobis  multipliciter  Comendatum  ac 
in  Bonarum  Liturarum  studio  et  scientia  Eruditum  et  per  nos  et  alios  quo  ad 
omnia  in  ea  parte  requisita  examinatom  et  approbatum  in  Sacrum  Diaconatus 
ordinem  juxta  morem  et  ritum  Ecclesiae  Anglican®  in  hac  parte  salubriter 
editos  et  provisos  admisimus  et  promovimus  Ipsumque  in  Diaconum  Rite  et 
Canonice  tune  et  ibidem  ordinavimus.  IN  GUJUS  REI  TESTIMONIUM  Sigillum 
Nostrum  Episcopale  presentibus  apponi  fecimus.  Datis  die  et  anno  p'dietis 
Nostraeque  translations  anno  vicesimo  secundo.  H.  LONDON." 

"TENORE  p'sentium  Nos  HENRICUS  permissione  Divina  LONDINENSIS  EPIS- 
COPUS  notum  facimus  universis,  quod  die  secundo  Mensis  augusti  Anno  Dom. 
millesimo  sexcentessimo  nonagesimo  septimo  in  Capella  nostra  intra  pallatium 
nostrum  de  Fulham  Middlesexiae,  nos  pfatus  HENRICUS  LONDINENSIS  EPISCO- 
PUS  antedictus  sacros  ordines  Dei  omnipotentis  p'sidio  celebrantes  :  Dilectum 
Nobis  in  Christo  Gulielmum  Vesey  A.  M.  ex  universitate  Oxon  de  vita  sua 
Laudabili  ac  morum  et  virtum  suarum  donis  Nobis  multipliciter  Comendatum 
ac  in  Bonarum  Liturarum  studio  et  scientia  Eruditum  et  per  nos  et  alios  quo  ad 
omnia  in  ea  parte  requisita  examinatum  et  approbatum  in  Sacrum  Presbyteratus 
ordinem  juxta  morem  et  ritum  Ecclesias  Anglicanas  in  hac  parte  salubriter  editos 
provisos  admisimus  et  promovimus  Ipsumque  in  Presbyterum  Rite  et  Canonice 
tune  et  ibidem  ordinavimus.  IN  GUJUS  REI  TESTIMONIUM  Sigillum  Nostrum 
Episcopale  presentibus  apponi  fecimus.  Datis  die  et  anno  p'dictis  Nostraeque 
translationis  anno  vicesimo  secundo.  H.  LONDON  " 

"  HENRY,  by  divine  permission  LORD  BISHOP  OP  LONDON,  To  all 
to  whom  these  presents  Shall  or  may  consern,  health  in  our  Lord 
God  everlasting. 

WHEREAS,  by  an  act  of  Parliament  made  in  the  first  year  of  our 
Sovereign  Lord  and  Lady  King  WILLIAM  and  Queen  MARY,  Entitled 
an  act  for  the  abrogating  of  the  oaths  of  Supremacy  and  Alle- 


59 


fiance  and  appointing  other  oaths,  it  is  provided  and  Enacted  that 
Every  person,  at  his  or  their  respective  admission  to  be  incum 
bent  in  any  Ecclesiastical  promotion  or  dignity  in  the  Church  of 
England  shall  subscribe  and  declare  before  his  ordinary  in  manner 
and  form,  as  in  the  sd.  act  is  contained  Now  KNOW  YE,  that  on 
the  day  of  the  date  hereof,  did  personally  appear  before  us,  Mr. 
William  Vesey  to  be  admitted  to  the  Ministeriall  function  in  ye 
II.  LONDON.  City  of  New  Yorke,  and  subscribed  as  followeth,  as  by  the  said 
act  is  required.  I  William  Yesey  do  declare  that  I  will  Conform 
to  the  Liturgy  of  the  Church  of  England  as  it  is  now  by  law 
established.  IN  WITNESS  whereof  we  have  caused  our  scale 
manual  to  be  affixed  to  these  presents,  Dated  the  second  day  of 
-August,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  six  hundred 
Ninety-Seaven,  and  in  the  22d  year  of  our  Translation." 

'*  HENRICUS  permissione  Divina  Londinensis  Episcopus  Dilecto 
Nobis  in  Christo  Gulielmo  Yesey  clerico  Salutam  et  Gratiam : 
ad  peragendurn  Officium  parochi  in  Eclesia  de  New  Yorke 
in  partibus  occidentalibus  in  presibus  Communibus  aliisque 
Ministeriis  Ecclesiasticis  ad  officium  parochi  pertinentibus,  juxta 
formam  descriptam  in  Libro  publicarum  precum  authoritate  par- 
liamenti  hujus  Inclyti  Eegni  Anglias  in  ea  parte  edit,  et  provis. 
et  Canoues  et  Constitutiones  in  ea  parte  Legitime  Stabilitas  et 
publicatas  et  non  aliter  neque  alio  modo  tibi  de  cujus  fidelitate 
morum  Integritate,  Literarum  Scientia,  Sana  Doctrina  et  Dili- 
,  gentia  plurimum  confidimus  (prestito  primitus  per  te  luramento 

II.  LONDON,  tarn  de  agnosendo  regiam  Supremam  Majestatem  Juxta  vim,  formam 
etEftectum  Statuti  parliament!  dicti  regni  Anglisein  ea  parte  edit, 
et  provis.  quam  de  Canonica  Obedientia  Nobis  et  Successoribus 
nostris  in  omnibus  licitis  et  honestis  per  te  prestanda  et  exhi- 
benda  Subscriptisque  per  te  Tribus  illis  Articulis  mentionatis  in 
Tricessimo  Sexto  Capitulo  Libn  Constitutionum  sive  Canonum  Ec- 
clesiasticorum  anno  Domini  1604  regia  authoritate  Editorum  et 
promulgatorum)  Licentiam  et  facultatem  Nostram  Consedimus  et 
Impertimur  per  presentes  ad  Nostrum  beneplacitum  Duntaxit 
Duraturas.  IN  GUJUS  REI  TESTIMONIUM  Sigillum  Nostrum  quo 
in  similibus  plerumque  utimur  presentibus  apponi  fecimus." 

"Dat.  secundo  die  August!,  1697." 

"  BY  His  EXCELLY.  Coll.  Benjamin  Fletcher,  Capt.,  Genii.,  and  Govr.  in  Chief 
of  the  Province  of  New  York,  &c. 

"  These  are  to  certifie  unto  all  to  whom  these  presents  shall  come  or  may 
Consern,  that  on  Sunday,  the  13th  of  March  Instant,  at  the  first  opening  of 
Trinity  Church  in  New  Yorke,  after  ye  reading  the  Morning  and  Evening  Ser 
vice,  Mr.  William  Yesey  did  declare  before  his  Congregation  his  unfeigned  as 
sent  and  consent  to  all  and  everything  contained  and  prescribed  in,  and  by  the 
book  Entituled  the  book  of  Comon  prayer,  and  administration  of  the  Sacra 
ments  and  other  rites  and  Ceremonies  of  the  Church,  according  to  the  use  of 
the  Church  of  England,  together  with  the  Salter,  or  psalms  of  David,  pointed  as 
they  are  to  be  sung  or  said  in  Churches  in  the  form  and  manner  of  making, 
consecrateing,  and  ordaining  and  consecrateing  of  bishops,  priests  and  Deacons, 
and  in  the  Time  of  divine  service  did  read  a  certificate  from  the  Rt.  Reverend 
father  in  God,  Henry  Lord  Bishop  of  London  that  he  had  subscribed  the  ac 
knowledgment  or  Declaration  according  to  the  act  of  uniformity. 

"  IN  TESTIMONY  whereof  I  have  hereunto  Sett  my  hand  scale  at  New  York 
the  25th  of  March.  Annoque  Domini,  1698.  BEN.  FLETCHER." 

From  the  Minutes  of  the  Yestry  of  Trinity  Church  we  get  further  light  on 
the  subject  of  the  opening  of  the  church  for  divine  service.  The  meeting  at 
which  the  Rev.  Mr.  Yesey's  name  first  occurs  as  present,  was  held  Monday, 
January  31st,  169  8.  At  that  meeting  the  following  order  was  adopted  : 


60 

"  Ordered,  That  Trinity  Church  be  cleared  to-morrow,  Divine  Service  being  to 
be  read  therein  the  next  Sunday.  Mr.  Jeremiah  Tothill  having  accepted  to 
oversee  the  performance  thereof,  this  board  promising  to  refund  him  in  the  ex 
pense  thereon." 

It  appears,  however,  that  the  doors  were  yet  unfinished,  that  the  windows 
were  still  unglazed,  and  that  the  pulpit  had  not  been  set  up ;  so  that  it  could 
not  be  got  ready.  After  a  delay  of  more  than  a  month,  another  resolution  was 
adopted  on  Monday,  March  7,  1698,  as  follows: 

"Ordered,  That  Capt.  Thos.  Clarke,  Mr.  Wm.  Huddleston,  and  Mr.  John  Crooke 
do  take  care  that  the  Church  be  cleared  and  put  into  the  best  posture  they  can 
in  order  that  Divine  Service  and  the  Communion  be  there  administered  the 
next  Sabbath  day." 

The  next  Sunday  was  March  13,  and  G-ov.  Fletcher's  certificate  shows  that 
on  that  day  the  Church  was  opened,  and  that  the  rector  officiated  there  for  the 
first  time. 

Dr.  Berrian's  error  is  accounted  for,  as  to  the  day  of  the  month,  by  his  sup 
posing  that  the  order  of  Jan.  31st  was  carried  out,  and  as  to  the  year  (which 
he  makes  1697  instead  of  1698),  by  the  fact  that  he  was  misled  by  a  clerical 
error;  for  in  the  transcription  of  the  Minutes,  the  copyist  has  carried  the  date 
1697  into  the  year  1698,  as  far  as  to  March  26th,  when  it  would  appear  that  he 
discovered  his  mistake,  but  did  not  take  the  trouble  to  go  back  and  correct  it, 
fearing,  perhaps,  to  spoil  the  looks  of  his  beautiful  penmanship  by  erasures. 

NOTE  B. 

The  following  communication  has  been  received  from  Miss  Auchmuty,  of 
"Washington,  D.  C.,  a  grand-daughter  of  Dr.  Auchmuty,  and  is  inserted  with 
much  pleasure,  as  an  authentic  contribution  to  the  history  of  the  times ;  the 
writer  says : 

"  I  write  what  I  have  heard  from  earliest  childhood  were  the  incidents  re 
lated.  It  may  not  be  uninteresting  to  Trinity  Parish,  which  has,  in  the  cen 
tennial  celebration  of  St.  Paul's,  done  so  much  honor  to  the  memory  of  my 
grandfather,  to  know  why  he  was  led  to  leave  New  York  when  all  his  best 
feelings  prompted  him  to  remain  with  the  devoted  flock,  to  whom  he  was  a 
faithful  pastor. 

"In  the  most  serious  times  of  the  Revolutionary  War,  when  the  Americans 
took  possession  of  New  York,  Dr.  Auchmuty's  position  as  Rector  of  Trinity 
Church  caused  him  to  be  a  peculiar  mark  for  the  persecution  to  which  the 
clergy  and  loyalists  generally  were  subjected,  by  a  people  regardless  of  aught 
but  their  zeal  to  relieve  their  country  from  the  sway  of  England ;  and  he  had 
necessarily  much  to  endure,  in  consequence  of  what  were  deemed  his  obnox 
ious  principles.  On  two  or  three  occasions  Dr.  Auchmuty  had  been  forbidden 
by  the  authorities  to  use  the  prayers  for  the  king ;  but  nothing  would  induce 
him  to  swerve  from  his  decision  to  read  the  service  in  the  usual  form. 

"  The  students  of  King's  College,  and  a  number  of  his  friends,  having  under 
stood  that  violence  might  be  anticipated,  went  to  church  in  order  to  proiect 
him,  should  it  be  necessary.  After  service,  Dr.  Auchmuty  held  a  consultation 
with  his  vestry,  when  they  delivered  to  him  the  keys  of  Trinity,  St.  Paul's,  and 
St.  George's,  which  he  took,  saying  that  '  the  house  of  G-od  must  no  longer  be 
subjected  to  desecrations;'  and  with  the  promise  to  return  to  his  flock  as  soon 
as  they  could  be  permitted  to  worship  without  molestation,  he  went  into  the 
Jerseys  (as  New  Jersey  was  then  called)  to  the  protection  of  the  British  lines. 

"  When  the  English  again  took  possession  of  New  York,  he  applied  to  Gen 
eral  Washington  for  a  pass  through  the  American  lines,  that  he  might  be  en- 


01 

abled  to  return  to  his  charge.  This  was  refused  ;  but  not  daunted  thereby,  Dr. 
Auchmuty  determined  to  make  the  attempt  to  return  without  it.  By  walking 
through  the  woods  at  night,  at  the  expiration  of  a  week  his  painful  journey  was 
accomplished,  and  he  reached  his  beloved  flock  only  to  find  the  church  he  so 
venerated  burnt  to  the  ground,  with  the  parsonage  attached  to  it,  and  the  val 
uable  archives  mostly  destroyed. 

"With  a  heart  overwhelmed  with  sorrow,  he  preached  twice  in  St.  Paul's 
Church  on  the  Sunday  after  his  return,  and  the  following  week  was  taken  ill 
with  erysipelas,  brought  on  by  the  exposure  and  fatigue  he  had  just  under 
gone.  He  died  within  a  few  days  afterwards,  and  his  remains  were  placed 
beneath  the  chancel  of  St.  Paul's. 

"  His  life  was  thus  cut  off  in  its  full  vigor,  and  in  the  midst  of  his  usefulness — 
a  martyr  in  the  cause  of  the  Church,  in  whose  service  that  life  had  scarce  been 
spent." 

NOTE  C. 

Although  it  is  not  directly  connected  with  the  subject,  the  reader  may  not 
take  it  amiss  if  I  present  the  following  copy  of  verses  written  by  Dr.  Cooper,  once 
President  of  Columbia  College.  A  strong  maintainer  of  the  Royal  prerogative, 
he  became  so  odious  to  the  people,  that  on  the  10th  of  May,  1775,  they  attacked 
the  College,  and  would  no  doubt  have  taken  his  life,  if  he  had  not  been  so  for 
tunate  as  to  escape  in  the  darkness.  These- lines  were  written  by  him  on  the 
anniversary  of  that  day,  May  10th,  1776,  when  he  was  safe  in  England;  they 
contain  an  account  of  his  precipitate  flight.  Note  especially  what  the  good 
Doctor  writes  respecting  the  "sounding  shore'1''  of  the  Hudson,  and  its  "&eac//," 
along  which  he  wandered  in  great  and  just  alarm : 

To  thee,  0  God !  by  whom  I  live, 
The  tribute  of  my  soul  I  give, 

On  this  revolving  day. 
To  thee,  0  God !  my  voice  I  raise, 
To  thee,  address  my  grateful  praise, 

And  swell  the  duteous  lay. 
Nor  has  his  orb  unceasing  run 
Its  annual  circle  round  the  sun, 

Since  when  the  heirs  of  strife, 
Led  by  the  pale  moon's  midnight  ray, 
And  bent  on  mischief,  wend  their  way 

To  seize  my  guiltless  life. 
At  ease  my  weary  limbs  were  laid, 
And  slumbers  sweet  around  me  shed 

The  blessings  of  repose, 
Unconscious  of  the  dark  design, 
I  knew  no  base  intent  was  mine, 

And  therefore  feared  no  foes. 
When  straight  a  Heaven-directed  youth,* 
Whom  oft  my  lessons  led  to  truth 

And  honor's  sacred  shrine, 
Advancing  quick  before  the  rest, 
With  trembling  tongue  my  ear  addrest, 

Yet  sure  in  voice  divine. 
"  Awake  1  awake!  tho  storm  is  nigh, 


Mr.  Nicholas  Ogtlen. 


62 


This  instant  rouse — this  instant  fly, 

The  next  may  be  too  late  ; 
Four  hundred  men,  a  hostile  band, 
Access  importunate  demand, 

And  shake  the  groaning  gate." 
I  wake — I  fly — whilst  loud  and  near, 
Dread  execrations  wound  my  ear, 

And  sore  my  soul  dismay. 
One  avenue  alone  remain'd, 
A  speedy  passage  there  I  gain'd, 

And  wing'd  my  rapid  way. 
That  moment  all  the  furious  throng, 
An  entrance  forcing  pour'd  along, 

And  fill'd  my  peaceful  cell,* 
Where  harmless  jest  and  modest  mirth, 
And  cheerful  laughter  oft  had  birth, 

And  joy  was  wont  to  dwell. 
Nor  even  the  Muses'  hallow'd  fane, 
Their  lawless  fury  can  restrain, 

Or  check  their  headlong  haste, 
They  push  them  from  their  solemn  seat, 
Profane  their  long  rever'd  retreat, 

And  lay  their  Pindus  waste. 
Not  yet  content — but  hoping  still 
Their  impious  purpose  to  fulfil, 

They  force  each  yielding  door ; 
And  whilst  their  curses  load  my  head, 
With  piercing  steel  they  probe  the  bed. 

And  thirst  for  human  gore. 
Meanwhile  along  the  sounding  shore, 
Where  Hudson's  waves  incessant  roar, 

I  work  my  weary  way, 
And  skirt  the  windings  of  the  tide, 
My  faithful  pupil  by  my  side, 

Nor  wished  the  approach  of  day. 
At  length  ascending  from  the  beach, 
With  hopes  revived ;  by  morn  I  reach 

The  good  Palemon'sf  cot ; 
Where,  free  from  terror  and  affright, 
I  calmly  wait  the  coming  night, 

My  weary  fear  forgot. 
'Twas  then  1  scaled  the  vessel's:):  side, 
Where  all  the  amities  abide 

That  mortal  worth  can  boast ; 
Whence  with  a  longing,  lingering  view, 
I  bid  my  much  lov'd  York  adieu, 

And  sought  my  native  coast. 
Now  all  composed,  from  dangers  far, 
I  hear  no  more  the  din  of  war, 

Nor  shudder  at  alarms; 
But  safely  sink  each  night  to  rest, 
Xo  malice  rankling  through  my  breast, 

In  freedom's  fostering  arms. 


*  King's  College,  now  Columbia. 

t  Mr.  Stuyvesant'a  seat  in  the  Bowery. 

J  Kingfisher,  sloop-of-wur,  bound  to  Enghin  1, 


63 


Though  stripped  of  most  the  world  admires, 
Yet  torn  by  few  untamed  desires, 

I  rest  in  calm  content  ; 
And  humbly  hope  a  gracious  Lord 
Again  those  blessings  will  afford, 

Which  once  his  bounty  lent. 
Yet  still  for  many  faithful  friends, 
Still  day  by  day  my  vows  ascend. 

Thy  dwelling,  0  my  God  1 
Who  steady  still  in  virtue's  cause, 
Despising  faction's  mimic  laws, 

The  path  of  peace  have  trod. 
Nor  yet  for  friend  alone — for  all 
Too  prone  to  heed  sedition's  call, 

Hear  me,  indulgent  Heaven  1 
0 !  may  they  cast  their  arms  away — 
To  Thee  and  George  submission  pay, 

Repent  and  be  forgiven. 


NOTE  D. 

In  speaking  of  O'Beirne,  allusion  was  made  to  some  entertaining  particulars 
related  of  him  by  Croly.  They  are  recorded  in  the  "  Life  and  Times  of  Geo. 
IV."  chap,  vii.,  and  as  the  work  may  not  be  easily  accessible  to  many  of  those 
into  whose  hands  this  pamphlet  may  fall,  I  give  the  passage  in  full : 

"  Another  Irishman,  introduced  at  this  period  to  the  Prince,  was  a  memo 
rable  instance  of  the  power  of  accident.  This  was  O'Beirne,  afterwards  Bishop 
of  Meath,  in  Ireland.  He  had  been  educated  at  St.  Omer's  for  the  Roman 
Catholic  priesthood.  Returning  to  his  college  from  a  visit  to  his  friends  in  Ire 
land,  he  happened  to  stop  at  the  mn  of  some  English  village,  so  humble,  that 
its  whole  stock  of  provisions  was  but  one  shoulder  of  mutton;  which  he  im 
mediately  ordered  for  dinner.  While  it  was  preparing,  a  post-chaise  with  two 
gentlemen  stopped  to  change  horses ;  the  roasting  shoulder  of  mutton  attracted 
their  appetites  ;  they  had  travelled  some  distance,  were  weary,  and  they  agreed 
that  the  next  half  hour  could  not  be  better  spent  than  in  dining  on  what  they 
could  get. 

"  But  a  new  difficulty  arose,  on  their  being  told  that  the  only  dinner  in  the 
house  belonged  to  a  'young  Irish  gentleman  above  stairs.'  The  travellers  were 
at  first  perplexed ;  but  after  a  little  consultation,  agreed  with  the  landlady's 
idea,  that  the  shoulder  should  be  theirs ;  but  that,  to  save  the  credit  of  her 
house,  the  young  Irishman  should  be  invited  to  partake  of  it.  She  was  des 
patched  as  ambassadress;  but  returned,  after  an  ineffectual  attempt  at  persua 
sion,  announcing  that  '  the  young  gentleman  was  not  to  be  softened  ;  but,  on 
the  contrary,  protested  that  no  two  travellers,  nor  any  ten  on  earth,  should  de 
prive  him  of  his  dinner.'  This  menacing  message,  however,  was  followed  by 
the  appearance  of  O'Beirne  himself,  good-humoredly  saying,  that  though  he 
could  not  relinquish  the  shoulder  of  mutton  to  anybody,  yet  '  if  they  would 
partake  of  it  with  him,  he  would  be  happy  to  have  their  company  at  dinner.' 

"The  proposal  was  pleasantly  made  and  pleasantly  accepted.  The  party  sat 
down;  the  bottle  went  round;  none  of  the  three  was  deficient  in  topics;  and 
before  the  evening  closed,  the  travellers  were  so  much  struck  with  tiie  appear 
ance  and  manners  of  their  entertainer,  then  a  very  handsome  young  man,  and 
always  a  very  quick,  anecdotical,  and  intelligent  one,  that  they  asked  him 
'What  he  meant  to  do  with  himself  in  the  world?'  His  destination  for  the 
Irish  priesthood  was  immediately  set  down  as  altogether  inferior  to  the  pros- 


64 

pects  which  might  lie  before  his  abilities  in  English  life.  On  parting,  the  trav 
ellers  gave  him  their  cards,  and  desired  him  to  call  on  them  on  his  arrival  in 
London.  We  may  judge  of  his  surprise,  when  he  found  that  his  guests  were 
no  less  personages  than  Charles  Fox  and  the  Duke  of  Portland ! 

"  Such  an  invitation  was  not  likely  to  be  declined.  His  two  distinguished 
friends  kept  their  promise  honorably;  and  in  a  short  period  O'Beirne  enjoyed 
all  the  advantages  of  the  first  society  of  the  empire.  "What  his  graceful  appear 
ance  and  manners  gained  in  the  first  instance  was  kept  by  his  literary  acquire 
ments  and  the  usefulness  of  his  services.  He  was  for  a  considerable  period  on 
a  confidential  footing  in  the  Duke  of  Portland's  household,  and  much  employed 
in  the  party  negotiations  of  the  time.  Among  his  lighter  labors  were  two 
dramas,  from  the  French,  which  he  assisted  the  Duchess  of  Devonshire  in 
translating  and  adapting  for  the  stage  ;  and  of  whose  failure,  for  they  seem  to 
have  been  blown  away  by  a  tornado  of  criticism,  the  assistant  gallantly  bore 
the  blame.  But  O'Beirne  had  now  securely  fastened  himself  on  prosperity,  and 
'  neither  domestic  treason  nor  foreign  levy,'  neither  the  check  of  a  negotia 
tion  nor  the  overthrow  of  a  drama,  could  uproot  him.  On  Howe's  concili 
atory  mission  to  America,  O'Beirne  was  sent  with  him  as  chaplain,  and  in 
some  measure  as  secretary.  The  mission  was  flung  into  utter  scorn  by  the 
Americans,  as  every  one  predicted  that  it  would  be ;  but  the  chaplain  preached 
a  famous  sermon  at  New  York,  and  brought  home  the  only  laurels  of  the  em 
bassy.  On  Lord  Fitzwilliam's  fatal  appointment  to  the  viceroyalty  of  Ireland, 
O'Beirne  accompanied  him  as  chaplain  and  private  secretary,  and  with  the  usual 
promise  of  the  first  diocese.  The  viceroyalty  lasted  but  six  months ;  yet  six 
months  which  were  long  enough  to  lay  the  foundations  of  the  rebellion.  The 
alternate  feebleness  and  violence  of  this  brief  government,  of  whose  results 
the  noble  viceroy  was  probably  as  unconscious  as  the  babe  unborn,  made  the 
change  one  of  imperious  necessity.  Yet  O'Beirne  escaped  from  the  wreck, 
floated  where  all  was  going  down  around  him ;  and  had  scarcely  reappeared  in 
London,  when  he  was  raised  to  the  peerage,  and  the  opulent  bishopric  of 
Meath,  valued  at  £8,000  a  year.  Whether  this  accession  of  rank  and  wealth 
added  equally  to  his  happiness,  is  a  graver  question. 

"It  may  well  be  presumed  that  they  were  not  gained  without  envy,  nor,  at 
such  a  time,  held  without  attack.  His  change  of  religion,  though  at  an  early 
period  of  life,  and  on  conviction,  was  not  forgotten  by  his  fellow-students  at 
St.  Omer's,  who  were  now  scattered  through  Ireland  as  priests.  His  political 
connections  were  at  an  end;  their  debt  had  been  paid,  and  except  a  solitary 
letter  from  the  Duke  of  Portland,  his  English  intercourse  was  closed.  The 
party  fiercenesses  of  Ireland  are  always  bitter  in  the  degree  of  their  unimpor 
tance  ;  their  patriotism  tears  the  country  with  the  passion  and  the  impotence  of 
children.  And  to  this  worthless  and  nameless  strife  was  a  man  relegated, 
who  had  spent  the  flower  of  his  days  in  the  first  society  of  England,  among 
women,  the  '  cynosures'  of  elegance  and  fashion  ;  in  constant  intercourse  with 
men  of  first-rate  ability  and  national  influence  ;  and  in  the  centre  and  living 
glare  of  those  great  transactions  which  moved  all  Europe,  and  which  will  shape 
its  history  for  ages  to  come. 

"The  restlessness  natural  to  such  a  strife,  rather  than  the  necessity  for 
reform,  urged  him  to  a  hasty  reform  in  his  diocese.  But  there  is  no  operation 
more  delicate,  under  any  circumstances ;  and  no  reliance  on  the  value  of  his 
intentions  could  shield  their  practice  from  long  and  bitter  animadversions.  He 
died  a  few  years  ago,  after  a  career  which  might  have  made  an  instructive  and 
curious  biography,  and  no  bad  manual  of  '  the  art  of  rising  in  the  world.'  " 


33803 


M206224 


AJH 


THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 


